Tracking your carbon footprint: every move you make, every breath you take
Seeing as our President is looking to turn us into a European-style soft-socialist state, let us look at the what could be next on the agenda…
“Lord Smith of Finsbury believes that implementing individual carbon allowances for every person will be the most effective way of meeting the targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
It would involve people being issued with a unique number which they would hand over when purchasing products that contribute to their carbon footprint, such as fuel, airline tickets and electricity.
Like with a bank account, a statement would be sent out each month to help people keep track of what they are using.
If their “carbon account” hits zero, they would have to pay to get more credits.”
Now, glossing over the fact that this system, for all of these conveniences, there are a few aspects that would strike me as worrisome. Not only can you track your carbon footprint, so could the government. By extension, they could track your travel, your electrical usage — anything that touches upon electricity, heat, transportation and anything else you imagine that remotely involves CO2. We’re talking alchemy meets tyranny — not only does the state want the power to turn carbon dioxide into gold, they want to be in a position to look over your shoulder ever minute of your life to make sure they get every sou and kopek of that gold.
A government big enough to give you anything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
9 Comments
The website's content and articles were migrated to a new framework in October 2023. You may see [shortcodes in brackets] that do not make any sense. Please ignore that stuff. We may fix it at some point, but we do not have the time now.
You'll also note comments migrated over may have misplaced question marks and missing spaces. All comments were migrated, but trackbacks may not show.
The site is not broken.
On the other hand, there may be a lot of money to be made from reducing CO2 emissions. Is that a view contrary to a Republican/entrepreneurial points of view?
A couple of points…
Firstly, your response has nothing to do with what I pointed out — that things are creeping from a society where the government can, where it can demonstrate a need, acquire information on its citizens to one where they have intrusive information as a matter of course.
Secondly, to address your non-response response, if there were money in these industries, the government wouldn't have to mandate and subsidize their implementation — there were would be sufficient interest and investment in them as a matter of course. The fact that the government has to contemplate imposing these "solutions" is prima facie evidence that they aren't economical.
That said, there are conservative arguments in favor of these technologies — too bad the government is too wrapped up in their "scare the populace, we need to save the world" spin to make them.
I suppose I am not surprised. There is not much left in the UK to tax. Soon, there will not be much left in the US to tax either.
Not to worry about taxes: we have a long way to go before we come close to the UK. On the other hand the Brits get quite a bit from their taxes.
Thanks, but I will worry about the taxes. Especially now, given the propensity of the Obama administration and a Democrat controlled Congress to rack up debt like it is their job. $12 trillion in debt and climbing every day. You can't borrow your way out of debt, but those economic pinheads in Congress attempt to do so routinely, and mortgage the future of our children in the process, all to gain votes and power. Nice inheritance, huh?
As for "getting quite a bit from their taxes", it is like women with chest hair: they may gains some body heat, but it just isn't an attractive solution.
And now this government "discovers" (fakes) different crises, i.e. anthropogenic global warming or "40 million" people that "can't" get health care or creates faulty schemes to "stimulate" the economy etc., etc., in a giant power grab that shifts power from us to them, resulting in a huge loss of freedom and an analogously huge increase in taxes.
As Alfred E. Newman says, "What? Me worry?"
Great analogy, Dimsdale! Could not resists a bit of sexism.
Humor sells! 😉 So do facts…
"It would involve people being issued with a unique number which they would hand over when purchasing products that contribute to their carbon footprint…"
Also sounds a little close to the "Mark of the Beast" or "Number of the Beast" idea in the Book of Revelation, that people would need their number in order to buy and sell. Creepy.