sure at least 20 % of all energy use is coming from carbon free sources. Currently Sweden is leading the way, with 54 %, whilst the UK is ranked 24th out of 28, with just 8.2 % of energy coming from renewable sources. So the UK is going to have to more than double their use of renewables in the next four years in order to meet current targets, a seemingly impossible task given the political situation that we currently find ourselves in.
One of the most widely known( and widely criticised) policy ideas design to help transition the economy towards renewable energy, is a Carbon Tax. The term“ Carbon Tax” is divisive, controversial, and tends to draw the same criticisms and support year-onyear without any true progress being made on the subject( at least not in the United Kingdom). In Australia, a Carbon Tax was implemented in 2012 and repealed again within two years due to it’ s severe unpopularity and in Canada, Justin Trudeau has put the wheels in motion to apply a Carbon Tax and is already facing backlash. The underlying issue is that it leads to inflation across the board and whilst that would only be temporary as the economy would eventually adjust, people are not willing( or often able) to foot the bill. Industry groups complain that a Carbon
Tax stifles innovation and growth, whilst others complain it is a tax grab or simply don’ t believe it’ s necessary. At a time of political and economic instability for Britain, climate change is being pushed further and further down the agenda. However, Ted Halstead, founder and CEO of the Climate Leadership Council, has proposed a novel and innovative way to implement a Carbon Tax that avoids all the usual trappings of the issue, whilst putting money in the pockets of the general public and cutting government spending; he calls it a Carbon Dividend.
This Carbon Dividend is based on four core principles:
• Implement a gradually rising Carbon Tax
• Give those proceeds back to the taxpayer in the form of a monthly dividend
• Rollback environmental regulations to shrink government
• A climate domino effect based on border carbon adjustments
Let’ s break down exactly what that means. A gradually rising Carbon Tax is likely to start at £ 8 per tonne( looking at the Canadian model) and rise year on year.
This encourages businesses to transition rapidly towards a
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