The way for the U.S. to secure a leadership role in the 21st century is by leading on all the issues that confront the world, to exhibit thoughtful strength and realistic ideas. It will require more than military strength, diplomacy, reversing the current economic chaos, and strong alliances. Our place in the world, our rights, and our freedom depend on leading based on principles we don't just preach, but practice.
In the case of our reckless, decades-long descent into a position where we are addicted to fossil fuels mostly coming from abroad, the time for new ideas is past due. Clean new energy sources aren't just good for our children and the environment, they're a key to our national security. Now more than ever our leaders must partner with innovative businesses and entrepreneurs to make the United States more self-reliant again. The President and the Congress must resist the insidious temptation to do nothing about energy while dealing with the various other domestic and global challenges.
Of course, no matter if the business is banking or big oil, well-funded special interests don't want to give up the loopholes they've lobbied for over the years. They work to preserve their special deals with Congress, while lobbying the media into misleading Americans with catch phrases such as "Cap & tax" to keep us from thinking about what's at stake.
While most Americans support a cap on carbon pollution there's now a flood of "talking points" and sound-bites circulating about the supposed short-comings and dangers of any new plan. The real threat of cap-and-trade is that it doesn't favor the mega-corporations, and the ultra-rich energy barons. Changing to new and cleaner energy sources changes where the money goes - more of it stays in the U.S., in smaller, newer companies; it creates jobs that we desperately need to recover from the fiasco of letting the financial giants "self-regulate."
"It looks like green jobs are real. Recently, two solar energy companies — Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. and Wacker Chemie AG — announced billion-dollar investment plans to build plants near Clarksville and Chattanooga." U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)
In fact, a cap and trade system simply uses pure capitalism to reward efficient, innovative businesses while it effectively penalizes out-moded industries. Used world-wide it plays to American strengths, conveying tremendous economic advantage to industries and countries ready to innovate, and results in domestic job growth. Only somebody making lots of money off the existing rules could possibly deny the benefits of a global cap and trade system.
Many members of Congress benefit from huge campaign donations from energy companies. They'd be happy if we'd all stop paying such close attention to how energy policy intertwines with national security. They smile and want you to "trust" them to get it right, and the longer they've been there the more they want you to just trust, and not verify, that they're working for you. Uh huh.
This is my big idea for today. Ironically, I thought of it driving to work with just me in the car. And I'm just blocks away from public trans. But I was really tired and need to run errands after work. Lame excuse, yes. And yes, I know that the whole 'cap and trade' thing has a conservative ring to it but hear me out.
Here's the idea in a nutshell. If you drive a car, truck, SUV, motorcycle, scooter, Segway, ride a bike, walk or take public transportation you would be given a measurement device for each of your modes of transportation. For cars, it would be based on the gas mileage, weight and the number of people in your car. Each car would have thumbprint reading device for each passenger. Being a passenger versus rider would give the user a different amount of points. The tracking device would also assign points based on congestion and the efficiency of the driver's navigation. If the route they chose is easily traveled via public transportation, they get additional waste points.
You could even get really specific. If the driver owns a bike and drives on a day where the weather is absolutely perfect, you could also tack on some additional waste points. That might be a bit difficult to track though. Basically, the real measurement would be the more people in the car, the better gas mileage and the best route to work gets the lowest points. A person who drives a Hummer to work by lonesome, right next to the subway line during the busiest, smogiest time of the day get the most waste points. A person in an electric car filled with car-poolers who charges his car at night and goes to work at times to avoid rush-hour gets the least amount of points (or might even get credits).
Even though public transportation burns fuel and uses electricity, they would be exempt from those negative points. They would get a certain number of credits for each ride. Walkers and cyclists would get a higher number of credits.
A website would keep track of all the transportation credits and debits. If you were running a deficit, you could buy credits from a cyclist or public transportation user. Otherwise, it would function like any other tax. The procedes of this tax would go to public transportation and grants for businesses that provide energy reduction services.
Systems like this would also be rife with corruption and cheating. To discourage this, there would be a very large fine for those who tampered with their devices. To make sure it really works as a discouragement, it should be based on a sliding scale. To a person on disability or welfare, a $100 fine causes severe pain. To a millionaire, it's nothing. So if you used a percentage like 0.01% a person making $10,000 a year would need to pay $100. $90,000/yr would pay $900. Bill Gates would need to pay something over $4,000,000. Actually, that's how all fines should work. But that's a rant for another time.
In closing, a system like this would encourage people to use less energy and would reduce congestion and pollution. And people who actually use little energy and create little pollution would reap the rewards. Responsible people would actually get paid for doing the right thing. It would also provide a great funding source for public transportation. The technology would be complicated but it definitely wouldn't be impossible.
There would also need to be some exceptions. Like for rural areas with no public transportation of any kind. Using trucks for what they were originally designed, hauling stuff, would also get an exemption. But if they live in middle of nowhere and drive 30 miles in giant GMC truck to pick up some clothes at the nearest Walmart, they shouldn't immediately get a pass. They still have the option of driving a smaller car. But it definitely isn't the same behavior as someone doing that in an urban environment.
That's it. Would it work? I guess it could get a little too 'Big Brother' for some people.
Some interesting thoughts about potential allies and rivals in the general election:
http://www.carbontax.org/blogarchives/2008/02/28/bloomberg-out-nader-in-us-presidential-race/
I find it interesting that Obama might be able to adopt a policy that I strongly support -- a carbon tax -- and do two very different things at the same time:
