Global Warming
Here are some proposals with relevance to this problem of global warming, listed in descending order of significance. Please add your comments related to modifications of these ideas or completely new ones of your own.
1. Mass Transportation System Infrastructure Design
An effective long-distance monorail system would go a long way towards reducing energy consumption as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Naturally, the more comprehensive such a system is, the more likely it would be to appeal to the masses. A significant portion of the energy-intensive air transportation market is likely to be captured by an efficient monorail system.
2. Raise the Price of a Resource to Conserve It
If fuels (and everything else) is more expensive, frivolous consumption would undoubtedly decrease. In addition, fewer and wiser purchases of everything else will ensue. All this would lead to significantly less pressures on all resources and other aspects of the natural environment.
3. Waste Poundage Fee
Charging the end user a direct cost for disposal will naturally cause them to become conscious on their amount of consumption and the quality and durability of what they purchase. It would also cause them to increase their efforts at reusing or modifying what may have otherwise been thrown away and finally would encourage them to sort their waste stream for recycling.
4. Permit Nuclear Reactors Capable of Sustaing Catastrophic Damage to Nuclear Facilities
Huge amounts of carbon-free electricity could be obtained safely through properly designed and sited nuclear power plants.
5. Tax Only Active Economic Activity
Taxing all active economic activities and not taxing passive economic activities would tend to reduce the total amount of active economic transactions, thus reduce the total volume of material in circulation, resulting in lower environmental impact, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Sales Tax Paid for Both Buyer’s & Seller’s Jurisdiction
Requiring consumers to pay both jurisdictions’ sales taxes would increase the cost of many economic transactions resulting in a tendency to reduce the number of such transactions, thus the demand for goods. in addition, it would encourage local production, saving the environmental costs of transportation.
7. Natural Environmental Harvest Tax
Increasing the costs of taking virgin materials would encourage the reduction, reuse, and recycling of all materials.
8. Pollution Tax
Taxing pollutants directly on a per unit basis would be the most effective way to encourage all emitters to reduce their emissions.
9. Voluntary Sterilization of Drug Addicts, Criminals and Other Undesirable People
Preventing the birth of people who are significantly more likely to require more frequent police, ambulance and other medical care would not only reduce these costs, but reduce their environmental impact.
10. Monetary Policy
Taming the inflationary pressures on the economy would go a long ways towards reducing the tax burden. Faulty monetary policy is costing the federal government alone $500 billion in debt interest in 2012. Add the debt-based financing all other levels of government are addicted to, and the total interest costs to society are amazingly high. These mandatory payments are what, in part, forces everyone to engage more fiercely in the rat race, using their ‘free time’ running around figuring out how to generate more money to satisfy these bills. This extra demand, inevitably uses more fuel and other resources needed for these additional economic activities.
11. Business Relationship to the Environment
Businesses required to internalize all negative environmental externalities will naturally result in increased costs to consumer, resulting in lower demand, thus lower environmental impact.
12. 4-Day Work Week
By cutting one mandatory day of commute per week for large segments of the population, significant amounts of greenhouse gases would be prevented from entering the atmosphere.
13. Product Pricing Court
Ensuring that correct costs are associated with all products and services will prevent the tendency of prices to not reflect the cost of all actual elements involved with their production. Having this court would result in a rise of prices, causing a corresponding decline in demand.
14. Permanent Garage/Yard Sale Lots
Designating certain places as permanent or periodic places where anyone could bring their things to sell would result in a greater efficiency in such markets because more shoppers would have a larger selection.
15. Bicycle Transportation Network
The only way to have the best chance for the masses to incorporate bicycling into their daily routine is to create a comprehensive and safe environment for bicycling.
16. Criteria for Government Subsidies
Subsidies should only be used for certain narrow purposes, not to prevent the long-term effects of the free market from affecting prices. This would cause a price rise of certain goods.
17. Abortion & Euthanasia
Less people would mean a lower environmental impact than would otherwise be the case. A reduction of the number of people at the expensive fringes of terminal survival would similarly result in a lower environmental impact.
18. In Vitro Fertilization
Requiring only one egg at a time to be implanted would result in few successful pregnancies as well as the elimination of multiple pregnancies. This lower birthrate would result in a lower environmental impact.
19. Progressive Taxation
This tax philosophy would result in lower expenditures by the upper class on items or services that often significantly increase their per capita environmental impact, such as a second or third house, multiple cars, boats, frequent airplane transportation, etc.
20. Consumer Research Database
A comprehensive database which consumers could use to research their purchases would drastically reduce the time and effort involved in traveling to different places or searching online for what they want.
21. Real Time Pricing of Utilities
On average, people will use less of a particular utility at peak times of demand if they have immediate feedback in the form of prices
22. Individually Metered Utilities
When people are responsible for paying their own utility bills, they will be more conscious of costs, thus causing a slight reduction in demand.
23. Tax Trade Across Political Boundaries
This tax would result in higher prices for goods that must transit a political boundary. It would reduce long distance trade in favor of more local, though likely less efficient, providers.
24. Light Pollution
Restricting the amount of light pollution allowed would tend to reduce or eliminate the amount of illumination placed at various venues.
25. Public Bicycle System
Giving people the freedom of knowing that they will always be within reach of a bicycle that they could use at any time will enable people to increase their use of them.
26. Environmental Preservation & Development Grading Scale
Planning preservation and development limits that cover much more land than our current national park system would result in lower intensity developments over the long term. Developments allowed in these newly designated preserves and conserves would be more tightly controlled.
27. More Efficient Use of Public School Facilities
Using these facilities more efficiently would result in the lower demand for other facilities, some of which may not need to be built.
28. Antarctica
Placing this entire continent off-limits to permanent developments and resource extraction would have many benefits other than just the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
29. Moonlight
Using moonlight in some instances instead of artificial lighting would result in lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
30. Ban Tax Deductions, Credits Exemptions, Pre-Tax Money & Other Tax Tricks
Eliminating these would result in fewer or no trips to the tax man because taxes would be far simpler to calculate. Billions of hours would be saved as well as tons of paper.
31. Eliminate Carpool Lanes
Far greater energy benefits and congestion relief could be obtained by opening up carpool lanes to regular traffic instead of reserving it for carpooling only.
32. Comprehensive Mass Transportation System Schedules & Information Database
Unless information on exactly when and where mass transit vehicles are located, the public will surely tend to choose the more reliable and convenient individualized modes of transport.
33. Business Cross-Subsidy Regulations
Limiting this practice will prevent undue market manipulations. Price rises would result in certain markets, resulting in slightly lowered demand and environmental impact.
34. Penalty Tax On Vehicles Not Meeting US Safety or Pollution Control Standards
This tax would encourage vehicles to operate more efficiently.
35. Water Craft Pollution
This requirement might make boat motors more expensive, resulting in a slight decrease in the number sold.
36. Weaning Small Appliances Off of Batteries and Onto Solar Cells
The often toxic materials used in batteries could be eliminated or greatly reduced. The energy needed to charge them would not be needed.
37. External Electrical Outlets
This requirement would encourage gardeners to use electrically powered instead of gasoline powered equipment.
38. Signal Lights
When on the main road, needless stopping at red lights at 2 am when no cars are in sight would be eliminated.
39. Government Financial Aid Prerequisites
Enforcing the strings attached to such payments would ensure that they are used for essential goods rather than non-essential ones. this would reduce the environmental impact associated with the consumption of these non-essential goods.
40. Fat or Disabled Pay for Needed Services
This policy may slightly reduce the demand for services, resulting in environmental savings.
41. Prohibit Low-Flying Aircraft During Nighttime Hours
Either these aircraft would not fly, be redesigned, or substituted for quieter aircraft. This would likely lead to decreased fuel consumption and increased total costs of compliance.
42. Tougher Driving Tests
Fewer qualified drivers would lead to a greater use of mass transportation, which is more fuel efficient.
43. More Frequent Driving Tests
Again, fewer qualified drivers would lead to a greater use of mass transportation.
44. Vehicle ‘Black Boxes’
This may help reduce speeding, a significant source of fuel consumption.
45. Vehicle Noise & Wind
Vehicles designed or redesigned to meet these restrictions would either cost more and/or use less energy.
46. Adopt the Metric System
Our failure to successfully transition completely to the metric system has resulting in lots of wasted time and resources necessary to convert from one system to the other. The energy required to provide for this time and resources results in a small but significant negative effect on the environment.
47. Adopt the 13-Month Calendar
The confusion and wasted energy (calling to confirm, driving and figuring out it was the wrong day, etc.) involves a small negative effect on the environment.
48. Public Water Fountains
Having these scattered all over the place would encourage people to walk and bike ride to more places without needing to worry about the need to provide for their own hydration.
49. Traffic Mitigation
These policies would prevent drivers from having to drive miles to find a passage through the lines.
50. Human Generation of Electricity During Exercise
Though not a significant energy consumer, exercise machines should try to enable their users to provide all the power necessary for operation.
51. Bicycling Classes
For the small percentage of the population that doesn’t know how to ride a bicycle, requiring this class before exiting childhood would make it easier for them to adopt this practice in the future.
52. Present During Voting
Senators often rush to the Capitol, often flying back from their home districts, to cast their votes in person. This is ridiculous. They should be allowed to cast their votes in advance or by other secure means.
53. Option to Buy Restaurant Leftovers
Reducing the amount of wasted food will help reduce the greenhouse gasses associated with its production.