Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs
Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.
The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalizing the poor.
Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.
Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.
MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.
But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.
The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is 'ahead of its time'.
The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases - from petrol to food.
For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.
Every time someone makes a purchase of petrol, energy or airline tickets, they would use up credits. A return flight from London to Rome would, for instance, use up 900kg of CO2 credits, while 10 litres of petrol would use up 23kg.
Mr Yeo, chairman of the committee said personal carbon trading rewarded those with a low carbon footprint with cash.
'We found that personal carbon trading has real potential to engage the population in the fight against climate change and to achieve significant emissions reductions in a progressive way,' he said.
'The idea is a radical one. As such it inevitably faces some significant challenges in its development. It is important to meet these challenges.
'What we are asking the Government to do is to seize the reins on this, leading the debate and coordinating research.'
The Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2010.
The Climate Change Bill going through Parliament aims to cut emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. The Government has said it backs the idea in principle, but it is currently too expensive and bureaucratic.
Environment Minister Hilary Benn said: 'It's got potential but, in essence, it's ahead of its time. There are a lot of practical problems to overcome.'
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report into the scheme found it would cost between £700million and £2billion to set up and up to another £2billion a year to run.
Tory environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth added: 'Although it does have potential we should proceed with care. We don't want to alienate people and we want everyone to be on board.'
But critics say the idea is deeply flawed. The scheme would penalise those living in the countryside who were dependent on their cars, as well as the elderly or housebound who need to heat their homes in the day.
Large families would suffer, as would those working at nights when little public transport is available.
It would need to take into account the size of families, and their ages. There is huge potential for fraud.
Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers' Alliance said the cards would be hugely unpopular. 'The Government has shown itself incapable of managing any huge, complex IT system.' he said.
HOW THE SCHEME WOULD WORK
Every adult in the UK would be given an annual carbon dioxide allowance in kgs and a special carbon card.
The scheme would cover road fuel, flights and energy bills.
Every time someone paid for road fuel, flights or energy, their carbon account would be docked.
A litre of petrol would use up 2.3kg in carbon, while every 1.3 miles of airline flight would use another 1kg.
When paying for petrol, the card would need to swiped at the till. It would be a legal offence to buy petrol without using a card.
When paying online, or by direct debit, the carbon account would be debited directly.
Anyone who doesn't use up their credits in a year can sell them to someone who wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.
Originally posted by Dace AceSounds like a good idea. It "penalizes" those who are causing the greatest amount of CO2 emissions; how outrageous in a proposal to reduce those emissions.
Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs
Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.
The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissio ...[text shortened]... wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.
Originally posted by kmax87Quite true. But is that a bad thing. If doing something damages the environment and we all have an equal right to the environment then those who damage it should pay those who don't.
Sounds like you end up rewarding those who do nothing in society.
If four people own an apple tree and two of them are getting apples and damaging the tree in the process, and the other two are not then the two damaging the tree should pay the owners not causing damage.
If on the other hand you do something good for the environment like say plant some trees then maybe everyone else should pay you. We should actually be paying Brazil and other tropical nations to preserve the rain forests.
Originally posted by Dace AceThis is a terrible idea: The solution to government-created problems is not more government. Clearly, the government carbon-rationing scheme is unnecessary as the market is perfectly capable of sorting this out.
Every adult in Britain should be forced to carry 'carbon ration cards', say MPs
Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.
The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissio ...[text shortened]... wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterPriceless DSR, you do know that pollution is a textbook example of an externality that isn't corrected by market forces. And that this kind of taxes (directly linked to the pollution itself) is also a textbook example for solving that problem.
This is a terrible idea: The solution to government-created problems is not more government. Clearly, the government carbon-rationing scheme is unnecessary as the market is perfectly capable of sorting this out.
If you want to oppose this idea, do it on reasonable grounds, there are enough in this case. How would one implement such a system in the first place ? For what goods and services would this have to be implemented, should foodstuffs be included? What about privecacy issues, etc.
Originally posted by der schwarze RitterOne of the pillars of Conservative belief is reducing the size of the government, isn't it?
This is a terrible idea: The solution to government-created problems is not more government. Clearly, the government carbon-rationing scheme is unnecessary as the market is perfectly capable of sorting this out.
How's that working out with Bush?
Would this system just be the new form of communism? You know, everybody is supposed to get equal treatment, but it ends up really on who you know, or what position in the government you hold. If you have a friend in the right place, you'll end up with more credits then is fair owned to you.
Originally posted by Dace AceTruly amazing, this system is bad because it might just be abused ? Maybe we should do away with laws, as they can be broken.
Would this system just be the new form of communism? You know, everybody is supposed to get equal treatment, but it ends up really on who you know, or what position in the government you hold. If you have a friend in the right place, you'll end up with more credits then is fair owned to you.
Originally posted by BartsDoes sound like a total bureaucratic nightmare. Maybe they should work on fixing the education system first, or nobody will be smart enough to figure out how personal carbon trading works. Hmm. Wait a minute. I sense a cunning ploy ...
Truly amazing, this system is bad because it might just be abused ? Maybe we should do away with laws, as they can be broken.
Originally posted by Dace AceWhat's communist about that? What you're describing sounds like Bush cronyism, Cheneyism, Halliburtonism...
Would this system just be the new form of communism? You know, everybody is supposed to get equal treatment, but it ends up really on who you know, or what position in the government you hold. If you have a friend in the right place, you'll end up with more credits then is fair owned to you.