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Carbon footprints: Changing behavior
Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a group of articles in it's op-ed section about global warming. One of them discusses how to get people to change energy use patterns through behavioral economics.
I have a suggestion on how to reduce gasoline use in a way that rewards good behavior. Here's how it works: The price of gasoline should be raised to $10 per gallon through additional taxes or whatever. As that takes place, all licensed drivers will be given a coupon, or the electronic equivalent thereof, for $7.00 off on, say, 10 gallons of gas for a given week. That way, any driver can buy up to 10 gallons of gas per week for $3.00/gallon and anything in excess of that will be at $10.00/gallon. There is no limit to the amount you can buy as long as you can pay. People who don't use their full allocation can sell the remaining discount. (Those numbers may need to change a bit to achieve the desired effect.) If you have a fuel-efficient car or you don't drive much, you'll be OK. If you don't drive at all, you can sell your coupons and have enough cash to take public transportation. On the other hand, if you insist on driving your Escalade to work 40 miles away, you'll pay. It's really very simple. I'm sure others have suggested similar ideas. We'll have to figure out ways to deal with commercial vehicles.
The Chicago Tribune also has an interesting personal/family carbon footprint calculator. Taking that quiz is worth a few minutes.
Carbon footprints: Changing behavior
April 7, 2008
Over the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ran a group of articles in it's op-ed section about global warming. One of them discusses how to get people to change energy use patterns through behavioral economics.I have a suggestion on how to reduce gasoline use in a way that rewards good behavior. Here's how it works: The price of gasoline should be raised to $10 per gallon through additional taxes or whatever. As that takes place, all licensed drivers will be given a coupon, or the electronic equivalent thereof, for $7.00 off on, say, 10 gallons of gas for a given week. That way, any driver can buy up to 10 gallons of gas per week for $3.00/gallon and anything in excess of that will be at $10.00/gallon. There is no limit to the amount you can buy as long as you can pay. People who don't use their full allocation can sell the remaining discount. (Those numbers may need to change a bit to achieve the desired effect.) If you have a fuel-efficient car or you don't drive much, you'll be OK. If you don't drive at all, you can sell your coupons and have enough cash to take public transportation. On the other hand, if you insist on driving your Escalade to work 40 miles away, you'll pay. It's really very simple. I'm sure others have suggested similar ideas. We'll have to figure out ways to deal with commercial vehicles.
The Chicago Tribune also has an interesting personal/family carbon footprint calculator. Taking that quiz is worth a few minutes.
Posted by Peter Welander on April 7, 2008 | Comments (0)
Industries: Information Control
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