I'd like to propose a way to deal with the oil crisis.
It's called a carbon tax.
The idea is that we raise a special carbon tax, progressively, to let the economy adjust. This tax would make oil prices soring so high, that the Saoudis and those other dictator nations will have to sell it to us at a cheaper price.
(Law of supply and demand, the price would have to come down as demand grows lower because of the high price. But of course, when that happens, we make the carbon tax higher, and so it continues.)
In this way, the money will be in our governments hands. And with it, we help ourselves: we can progressively eliminate income tax: give people the choice about what to do with their dollar: spend it on expensive gassoline, spend it on expensively imported or greenhouse vegetables, spend it heating houses that are too big, or spend it else where. The tax break would allow people to continue affording their regular food and so on, despite the obvious price rise.
This would quickly lead to an efficient re-organization of the whole economy and urbanism to a more energy efficient way. The benefits would be huge: we would be in advance of other countries on environmental issues. We would be on the front line, in advance, in terms of having a strong healthy economy that isn't based on oil when the oil wells really do dry up. We will be obliged to live closer to each other, have good public transportation and a wonderful sense of community.
Any takers?
It's called a carbon tax.
The idea is that we raise a special carbon tax, progressively, to let the economy adjust. This tax would make oil prices soring so high, that the Saoudis and those other dictator nations will have to sell it to us at a cheaper price.
(Law of supply and demand, the price would have to come down as demand grows lower because of the high price. But of course, when that happens, we make the carbon tax higher, and so it continues.)
In this way, the money will be in our governments hands. And with it, we help ourselves: we can progressively eliminate income tax: give people the choice about what to do with their dollar: spend it on expensive gassoline, spend it on expensively imported or greenhouse vegetables, spend it heating houses that are too big, or spend it else where. The tax break would allow people to continue affording their regular food and so on, despite the obvious price rise.
This would quickly lead to an efficient re-organization of the whole economy and urbanism to a more energy efficient way. The benefits would be huge: we would be in advance of other countries on environmental issues. We would be on the front line, in advance, in terms of having a strong healthy economy that isn't based on oil when the oil wells really do dry up. We will be obliged to live closer to each other, have good public transportation and a wonderful sense of community.
Any takers?
