For instance, a family of five would consume on average $1,000 worth of energy nationally. With a $0.25 tax in place they would receive a $250 reimbursement at the end of the year. This would then counterbalance the financial burden on working families for necessary consumption while still fulfilling the intent of externality regulation - the reduction of frivolous and wasteful consumption through reallocation of resources.
Throughout the year, the government would invest the revenue generated by the tax.
After the initial year, the earnings from the investment could be put toward researching alternative energy sources or lowering the national debt, which would also stimulate private investment by lowering the interest rate.
This facet of the policy would also work to catalyze the entire economy as more efficient technology would increase productivity, ultimately leading to higher output and a higher standard of living - not including the benefits of a healthy environment.
Many advocate public transportation and alternative means for workers' commutes, but all too often, this is simply impossible. As someone who grew up having to drive 20 minutes to get into town, I can attest to the limitations of public transit.
For Crozet, Va., to build a rail system would be economically insane. Driving to work this summer, 17 miles from my house, the gas adds up.
I drive a small car and usually follow the speed limit, but the arrow still approaches the "E." It can be very discouraging to have to use a quarter of your paycheck just to get to work the next week.
If the true goal of cap and trade is to secure the blessings of nature for our children, then it needs to be done with purpose and fairness, both of which will allow the policy to work more efficiently.
To do so, cap and trade must be carefully constructed to not penalize people trying to get to work every day, but to reward efficiency and deter wasteful self-indulgent consumption by the top 5 percent of income earners.
This may not be a perfect model, and there is certainly a ways to go in the engineering of alternative energy systems.
However, at schools and research institutions across the world and here at Virginia Tech there are many brilliant people working to fix those problems.
If we can operate outside of the mutually exclusive, left-or-right school of thought, there is boundless potential for reducing negative externalities. The important facet of the policy is accomplishing these things without doing irreparable damage to the middle class.
Continue Reading: « Previous12
Leave a comment 1 Comment Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
"To do so, cap and trade must be carefully constructed to not penalize people trying to get to work every day, but to reward efficiency and deter wasteful self-indulgent consumption by the top 5 percent of income earners." Over-consumptive, self-indulgent behavior is by no means limited to the top 5 percent of income earners. How many middle-class people signed onto loans that both they and the banks knew were dangerous, but did so anyway so that they could have their 3,000+ square foot home in the countryside? How many middle class people have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt (excluding medical bills)? Americans in general want to live large and have someone else pay for it, so don't act like wasteful consumption is limited to the top 5 (or even 50) percent of wage-earners.
Reply to this Top