We all want to save the planet, but some of us are more eco-friendly than others. So, in a bid to try and encourage the human race to do as much as we can to look after the planet, governments (following public pressure) are starting to implement laws on things such as what kind of products can be produced (goodbye plastic straws!), how many fossil fuels we can use, and where diesel cars can and can’t drive – the city of Bristol was recently in the news as it was looking into banning any diesel vehicles from the driving in the city.
Another big thing is taxes. Several taxes have been suggested as a way to ‘nudge’ us into making greener choices. A tax on beef has been suggested, as have taxes on flights. The thing is, the richest 10% of people produce four times as many emissions as those in the bottom 50%. Given this statistic, it’s unlikely that making less eco-friendly choices more expensive is going to make that much difference. If the super-wealthy want to fly halfway around the world several times a year, having to pay a bit more for plane tickets isn’t going to stop them.
One solution to the tax ‘solution’, a solution which would end up moving taking holidays abroad and regularly eating meat out of the means of the less well-off – and in doing so, widen existing class divides, is to use a rationing system instead. People could be given a series of tokens which could be spent on flights and meat-eating, or sold if not needed, or even not used at all should the token-holder so choose.
It’s not a perfect system, but it could be an idea worth pursuing, and one with a greater degree of equality than eco-taxes. What are your thoughts?
