Saving Capitalism, by Robert Reich: on Energy & Oil


Robert Reich: Treat right to emit carbon dioxide as a form of property

Ideally, the right to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would be treated as a form of property whose price continued to rise over time. Polluters could buy and trade it, so it would be used where most needed. This would also give them a strong incentive to minimize their emissions immediately and devise innovative ways of reducing them further. Such property rights require that government determines how they are to be traded. If necessities such as clean air and water simply go to the highest bidders, income and wealth disparities can result in wildly unfair outcomes. Government must also monitor and enforce any such system.
Source: Saving Capitalism, by Robert Reich, p. 19 May 3, 2016

Robert Reich: Treat right to emit carbon dioxide as a form of property

Ideally, the right to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere would be treated as a form of property whose price continued to rise over time. Polluters could buy and trade it, so it would be used where most needed. This would also give them a strong incentive to minimize their emissions immediately and devise innovative ways of reducing them further. Such property rights require that government determines how they are to be traded. If necessities such as clean air and water simply go to the highest bidders, income and wealth disparities can result in wildly unfair outcomes. Government must also monitor and enforce any such system.
Source: Saving Capitalism, by Robert Reich, p. 19 May 3, 2016

  • The above quotations are from Saving Capitalism
    For the Many, Not the Few
    by Robert B. Reich.
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