Carbon Tax and Budget

10/15/13

Carbon Dioxide emissions have been a large problem in today's oil dominated state. As we continue to spew out carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses at such an alarming rate, we risk changing the climate so drastically that everything about our lifestyles will have to change. In order to combat what has already been done to the environment, there are measures that we can try to enforce on companies to reduce their carbon emissions and impact on the environment.

The IPCC, or The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has suggested implementing something called a "Carbon Tax" or "Carbon Budget", which basically states a set amount of carbon emissions that companies can emit before facing some sort of consequence (IPCC). There are many intricacies that go into this reduction strategy including how to set a limit on the emissions as well as being able to accurately measure and record the amount of emissions each company is emitting.

One incentive for companies to support this idea is through a credit system where they get a set amount of emissions they can produce. This set amount is seen in the form of credits, where companies that are successful in lowering their carbon budget can sell their "credits" to other companies for real money. In turn the other company can emit more CO2 using the credits. This is a great way to promote emission reductions because it can create another avenue for revenue for the companies who are really interested in reducing their emissions. However, many companies are completely against having to reduce their carbon emissions for a variety of reasons. The first, and most obvious reason comes from the nature of their work. For example, coal power plants inherently will produce obscene amounts of carbon emissions. Any sort of reduction in carbon emissions is almost impossible for these plants due to their work.

Other ways to help reduce carbon emissions could be through implementing a law that requires companies to sell products that can be recyclable or reusable instead of products that we throw out after one use. Unfortunately, many of these companies will fight this law because their sales will be reduced. Most products nowadays are "made for the dump", a term used by Annie Leonard from The Story of Stuff. If products are no longer designed to fail, consumers will not have to buy products every six months due to faulty quality. The Story of Stuff is a great resource for learning more about the life cycle of products we use on a daily basis. Annie Leonard discusses the story of stuff, cosmetics, change, bottled water and even electronics, laying out the many problems with our current system of production. By reducing the amount of stuff we produce, reducing the amount of chemicals that go into the stuff we produce, and reducing the overall waste (Through making products recyclable and/or reusable), we can help reduce the carbon emissions produced on a global scale greatly.

Cracking down on carbon emissions is an obvious way to help slow down climate change. Sadly, many companies oppose reductions because they are not concerned about the environment, but instead are concerned about making as much money as possible. Not only will companies steadfastly oppose carbon emission reductions, but the enforcement of reusable or recyclable products will also be fought. As consumers we must use our buying power to support the companies that are more environmentally friendly and willing to help change as opposed to the any companies that refuse to act.

"Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year, over 26 billions tons. For each American, it's about 20 tons. For people in poor countries, it's less than one ton. It's an average of about five tons for everyone on the planet. And, somehow, we have to make changes that will bring that down to zero." (Bill Gates)

"IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change." IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg3/index.php?idp=251>.
Leonard, Annie. "Story Of Stuff." Story Of Stuff. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. <http://storyofstuff.org/>.