On the previous post I put on the table an idea to help control carbon emissions at an individual level while at the same time creating a way for citizens to monetize from their energy efficiency. I named it the Individual Carbon Emissions Cap (ICEC for short). After explaining its inner workings on the first post, now is the turn to explain why I think it could be highly beneficial for the economy.
Motivation
I am fed up of seeing the utility companies promoting energy saving and efficiency (even though one could think, on first instance, it goes against their business) but governments doing nothing but subsidize renewable energies producers. Renewable energies, as of today, are not capable of covering our whole energy consumption and they will not in the short term either, at least if we follow our historical trend of growing consumption. For renewable energies to really become alternative energies, efficiency measures must be applied to our daily life.
Prize efficient people, punish wasteful spenders = Prize the economy
I do not want anybody to think about the ICEC as a tax, because it is not. It could only become a tax for someone who is not capable of living without wasting a lot of energy by doing so. If that was the case, then tax him like you would with a normal business... The ICEC limit is high enough to not disrupt you usual life habits, but at the same time giving you an incentive to be efficient. For those who find the way to be efficient, the prize could not be more obvious: cash. Well, apart from the peace of mind of helping the environment and such... This cash could be forced to be for consumption only (if needed), then it would give a much needed boost to our weak economic recovery by increasing goods consumption. The best part? it would come at zero cost for the government, no need to raise taxes to the already tax-massacred citizens and, collaterally, it would mean increased earnings from VAT and other already existant taxes on consumption.
