As negotiators met in closed-door sessions, thousands of activists filled the streets to remind them the world has less than a decade to get greenhouse gases under control. Emissions need to fall around 45% by 2030 to give the world a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). Instead, they're expected to rise almost 14% over the next nine years.
11/12/21 by FiveThirtyEight, 538, ABC News, Nate Silver
Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/131193213
Episode: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP7425552792.mp3?updated=1636750172
On the final day of COP26, we look at whether these types of international agreements actually shape countries’ climate policies and whether there are other factors that are more important.
International relations is a fascinating business, I enjoyed studying them in college.
The Lincoln Memorial, on an island surrounded by churning Potomac waters; Nationals Park, a bathtub surrounded by mid-rise office buildings flooded by the Anacostia River; the Pentagon, accessible by boat, with State Route 110 and the George Washington Memorial Parkway underwater.
While maybe it’s just defensive or because I’ve clicked on the ads of a few fossil fuel companies that oppose any kind of climate action that would negatively impact their business, there seems to be a real uptick on advertising against a climate related tax on fossil fuels. Maybe it’s a good time too, as the public’s attention is focused on the news of predicted high heating bills this winter and gas prices that keep hiking at the pump.
I doubt legislators are in any kind of rush to enact taxes on gasoline, especially with prices going up so much lately. It seems like political suicide, although maybe less so in the New York City metropolitan area where so few people fuel their own cars or pay their own heating bills. But still, I can’t see much of a push to hike taxes on energy these days. Maybe it’s just about firing a warning shot, to keep the possibility of fossil fuel taxes off the agenda.
On the whole, I like the idea of enacting fossil fuel taxes as long as other taxes are reduced, so the proposal is revenue neutral. While it wouldn’t set well with progressives, I think it would be good for the economy to cut capital gains taxes to make up for revenue on fossil fuel taxes — and encourage people to invest their money rather then spend it on fossil fuels.
