Quote:
Originally Posted by **********
Really good point, and something that alot of people don't understand. Here's how I like to phrase it.
Imagine that a litre of gasoline costs $1.00. This includes the oil removed from the ground, refining and transportation and all kinds of other costs. $1.00.
The problem is that there is still another cost that is not included: The cost of the damage to the environment. The burned Gas goes into the air that we breathe, increasing medical costs. Other chemicals in the burned gas cause the warming of the planet, and damage to the ocean (ocean acidification). Etc.
So when we pay $1.00 today for a litre of gas, the true cost of that gas, is charged to us later, in the form of medical expenses and damage to the Earth. We won't pay it maybe, but our kids will.
The idea of a Carbon Tax, is to move the cost of the future damage, to today. By paying a little more, that money can be invested into source of energy that cause less damage, or hopefully no damage, to the earth and future generations. At the same time, we get cleaner air, cleaner water, and a choice when it comes on where we can get our energy.
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that's true, but
a. it's impossible to calculate this "externality"
b. you are assuming government will actually use the funds for intended purpose
c. you are assuming that what government decides is really the best use of the $$
so imagine you use 1000 liters of gas per year, and liter of gas costs $1 and you think that all the damage costs another $1 = $2 total
with no government involvement you would spend $1000/year on gas, with your plan you would spend $2000/year... so you have $1000/year less that you know for a fact would be spent well, cause you are the one deciding...
maybe you will take that $1000 and spend it on planting trees in the backyard? maybe you will invest that in a solar panel company? maybe you will put it towards a purchase of an electric car?
on the other hand who knows how the government would spend it? more likely than not, it would be spent foolishly or stolen through cronyism...
