I was informed
I got the full PM propaganda page lecture about the necessity for carbon tax and environmental repair, at a coffee social the other day. As she finished, I reached into the garbage, pulled the plastic lid from her MCaffe cup and threw it into recycle bin beside and said “there, in 5 seconds I just prevented more toxins from going into the environment than your expense for carbon tax would do through the rest of your life, and it cost me nothing”. Irritated expression, but no rebuttal.
You can’t expect a tax to encourage environmental stewardship, just make the wealthy feel good thinking they’re contribution to the cause. Consider 1 timmies lid, from production to destruction, probably emits more toxins into the environment than the emissions from my SUV over a year. Now look in your garbage and X that by the amount of convenience plastics you throw out this week, because they’re not recyclable or your you’re too lazy to rinse them off. And that’s just one pollution solution we could be dedicating our efforts/expense towards. Make the accomplishment worth the cost.
For me to support an environmental tax it would have to be applied fairly (by income/asset) and %100 directed to the maximum benefit of the cause it’s collected for. Carbon tax is neither. It will cause economic decline, increased poverty and crime. It’s way too much cost for no cure.
Paul Dunnill
Paul Dunnill