Why shouldn't an OAP living on an estate in Ammanford will be able to sell off their share of unused carbon to a businessman from Pontcanna who wants to fly from Cardiff to Ynys Mon?
That would be one of the outcomes of a personal carbon trading scheme backed by MPs on the Commons Environmnetal Audit Select Committee today
A system of carbon rationing could have economic benefits for the poorest. After all it is not those on the lowest incomes who cause the greatest envionmental harm.
The cross-party report acknowledges that unless we act now to cap our emissions there will be an economic slump equivalent to both World Wars and the Great Depression all rolled into one.
As the Stern report pointed out it would cost much less to prevent runaway climate change than to seek to live with it.
But such long-term concerns threaten to be put aside as panic spreads about short-term economic worries. As the editorial in today's Guardian points out:
"Cutting emissions will not win back Labour's lost voters in Crewe. But it must be done. This is the moment for courage"
Monday, 26 May 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
A better question would be with Emails INTERNET global business being done over the INTERNET why do people need to fly at all.
Most of our milk comes from New Zealand, flown here by aircraft, while our farmers pour dam good milk down the drains because they cannot sell it.
we have world wide communications face to face video, and yet people will fly all over the world to shake hands sign a form and fly back.
You buy a toy now from China it takes you an hour to free it from the package and about an hour to cut the dam wires holding it.
We do not need carbon savings just people with a brain a bit of trust and less rich people enjoying the perks
This carbon saving ,plastic bag saving etc is crumbs at a feast.
Sort out the big polluting countries.
Or is that too much to do, I am sure that at least a try would produce better results for the planet.
dealing with global warming and food shortages out are possible, its a questions of dangling the right financial incentive in front of the right companies and countries around the world and this would change the realities very quickly indeed.
Post a Comment