
Republican-Proposed “Carbon Dividend” Is a Sign of Progress - panic
http://www.wri.org/blog/2017/02/republican-proposed-carbon-dividend-great-sign-progress
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scarmig
This could be the biggest part of Trump's legacy, if he made sure it was
enacted. It'd single-handedly make him a better and more significant leader
than anyone recent president.

Likelihood: 0.00%

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ghouse
This is from February. While it's a great idea to tax externalities and let
the market determine the optimal solution, the GOP has already once again
scuttled the idea.

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35bge57dtjku
I thought carbon credits were an old idea that was already implemented.

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voxic11
Carbon credits operate on a voluntary basis and are not a tax.

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unit91
In the end, businesses will pass on the cost of the tax in the form of
inflated prices, hurting the poor most. For their trouble, the poor get the
promise of a government check later. What could go wrong?

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vkou
If you don't want people without money getting hurt, you may want to consider
finding an alternative to capitalism.

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supremesaboteur
Because, historically capitalism has been the single most efficient machine to
lift people out of poverty ?

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vkou
It doesn't seem to be the best way to get the American poor out of poverty. If
it were, there would be far more economic mobility in the US.

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gwright
Unfortunately the word 'poverty' here just doesn't mean the same thing at all.
Most American's tagged as 'poor' or 'living in poverty' are pretty darn rich
compared to global measurements of 'poverty'. Same word, different metrics.

Another confounding practice is that official US poverty statistics _don 't_
include many forms of government assistance. So a statement like '14% of
American's live in poverty' is _before_ this assistance. With this
representation of data, you could give those 14% $10,000/month in government
benefits and they would still be 'living in poverty'.

Here is a nice calculator you can play 'what if' measurement games with to see
how it affects the poverty rate:
[http://uspovertydata.com/povcal/index.php](http://uspovertydata.com/povcal/index.php)

