Personal Carbon Credits
Everybody in the world is a polluter, one way or another,
and pollution adds to the damage already done to the environment. There is
no easy answer, but should start with education of what pollution is and how
it should be reduced. This is the responsibly of every world government.
The problem is in the developed nations, that have grown
used to cheap disposable products, cheap and plentiful oil and coal. Because
it is cheap, demand has grown rapidly, encouraged by the large
multinationals.
Oil is no longer as cheap as it was and as a result,
people are starting to think about conservation, reducing the number of car
journeys, sharing transport and increasing the use of public transport. But
high oil prices (good for the oil producing countries and oil companies)
will not be enough to prevent continued growing demand and the negative
effects this is having of the world climate.
The idea for "Personal Carbon Credits"
was to try to provide a method to control and reduce consumption of all
types of energy. This should not be considered a new tax. When energy prices
increase rapidly 20-30% in less than one year, the people that suffer the
most are the old on fixed pensions and the low income groups. Higher prices
do not stop or reduce demand for long, people cut back on other expenses,
stop going to restaurants, use discount supermarkets, so that the car, the
holiday flights, heating are the last to be considered for reduction. But
this should be the first area to be targeted if we are to reduce CO2
emissions and limit the effects of climate change.
Personal Carbon Credits is based on the
idea that the everybody should be equal when it comes to energy consumption.
In the 2nd world war, the UK adopted ration books for every family, so that
you were guaranteed the basic food for living. This worked, and they did not
have computers. PCC's (Personal Carbon Credits) would work in a similar way,
except for energy. The lower income groups and elderly would have enough
credits to live on, but as income levels grow, these credits may not be
enough to maintain the current life style. So extra PCC,s could be
purchased, or savings made on energy use.
The effect of having to spend even more money, on top of
the energy price would start to make people consider energy usage and
reducing their expenses. Some savings in reducing CO2 emissions can only be
made at a global level, this is where the UN should put a world tax on
aviation fuel, the proceeds would be used to fund the United Nations and
reduce individual countries contributions, if they have reduced their CO2
emissions to 1990 levels.
The world needs leadership and decisions if we are to
prevent the so called "tipping point" sending the climate into a
uncontrolled upward spiral. It seems the UK government, under the leadership
of Gordon Brown, is not able to make the decision to use PCC's. Maybe the
better idea would be to get the whole European Union to commit to "Personal
Carbon Credits".
For more information, see the following links.
BBC News News article.
Squidoo Join the debate for and against Person
Carbon Credits.
The Guardian Newspaper The reason I created this
page.
One Hundred Months
If you care, join this group.
Sustainable Dev.Com. More news.
Wikipedia The increasing popular article.
Tim Flannery Auther of the "The weather Makers".
