80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050

Last weekend, as I was recruiting signatures for postcards to be sent to this commission in preparation for the hearings next Tuesday, a lot of people asked me exactly how we were asking for Georgia to accomplish the goal of 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. They were worried about crazy environmentalist rules, taxes, subsidies, and general government interference. And a part of me, as a closet libertarian, fully understands their fear. I don't like the idea of the government telling people what to do--who does? But I do think there's a role for government (preferably local government) in extreme times.

Possibly one of the best ideas I've heard so far for accomplishing this goal--or something like it--was the proposal suggested in Capitalism 3.0: make the environment--the "commons"--a player in the economic scene. Place a tax on pollution, and--here's the kicker--pay that tax, not to the government, but to the people who really own the commons: everyone. Give every American citizen a kickback--a "pain and suffering" retribution, if you will--as payment for the pollution that right now is deliberately, painfully harming everyone in a way that is hardly even noticed. Give children even more of a benefit, because they have to deal with the pollution that's been left them by our generation. And of course, don't just charge businesses for their careless environmental practices; charge individuals too. And increase that tax by 2% a year. Then, as Grist's David Roberts says, just sit back and get out of the way.