British government proposing carbon ration cards

[mustang84]

Madness. George Orwell must be rolling in his grave right now.

This is on top of all the other oppressive stuff the British government has been imposing the last couple years.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...ds-say-MPs.html

Every adult should be forced to use a 'carbon ration card' when they pay for petrol, airline tickets or household energy, MPs say.

The influential Environmental Audit Committee says a personal carbon trading scheme is the best and fairest way of cutting Britain's CO2 emissions without penalising the poor.

Under the scheme, everyone would be given an annual carbon allowance to use when buying oil, gas, electricity and flights.

Anyone who exceeds their entitlement would have to buy top-up credits from individuals who haven't used up their allowance. The amount paid would be driven by market forces and the deal done through a specialist company.

MPs, led by Tory Tim Yeo, say the scheme could be more effective at cutting greenhouse gas emissions than green taxes.

But critics say the idea is costly, bureaucratic, intrusive and unworkable.

The Government says it supports the scheme in principle, but warns it is 'ahead of its time'.

The idea of personal carbon trading is increasingly being promoted by environmentalists. In theory it could be used to cover all purchases - from petrol to food.

For the scheme to work, the Government would need to give out 45million carbon cards - each one linked to a personal carbon account. Every year, the account would be credited with a notional amount of CO2 in kilograms.

HOW THE SCHEME WOULD WORK

Every adult in the UK would be given an annual carbon dioxide allowance in kgs and a special carbon card.

The scheme would cover road fuel, flights and energy bills.

Every time someone paid for road fuel, flights or energy, their carbon account would be docked.

A litre of petrol would use up 2.3kg in carbon, while every 1.3 miles of airline flight would use another 1kg.

When paying for petrol, the card would need to swiped at the till. It would be a legal offence to buy petrol without using a card.

When paying online, or by direct debit, the carbon account would be debited directly.

Anyone who doesn't use up their credits in a year can sell them to someone who wants more credits. Trading would be done through specialist companies.

Edited May 28, 2008 by mustang84

[Oracle of Delphi]

:rotflmao:

[FAPTurbo]

An idea so monumentally stupid, it could only come from government.

45 million cards... can you imagine the bureaucracy needed to manage that!?

And who would this 'specialist company' be?...

Edited May 28, 2008 by Captainbooyah

[mustang84]

This just screams corruption. You can bet that the rich in Britain will not be bothered with this.

[Robert Hall]

Madness.

[!!!TED!!!]

just reading "carbon ration cards" made me roll my eyes.

[Intrepidation]

[loki]

+1

not that we are way behind in this madness though.

[pow]

Stupid proposals that have no chance of passing are proposed all the time. AFAIK this particular idea has been scrapped earlier this month for fear of public ridicule and distrust.

There are ways outside of regulation to reduce emissions... supply side innovations, like the development of carbon-free energy, is a start.

[Cremazie]

Wow, just wow!

How is that going to reduce greenhouse gases?

[Camino LS6]

Idiocy.

[ocnblu]

How much carbon would be released into the atmosphere in the production process for all those cards?

[Blake Noble]

How much carbon would be released into the atmosphere in the production process for all those cards?

:rotflmao:

Global Warming has gone too far, far too soon. I am actually frightened that it is instilling such ludicrous ideas into the minds of politicians who put faith into a theory based around a science we have just begun to understand.

Thanks, Al Gore.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

LOL...

I've been saying for A LONG TIME that global warming would result in control of the masses................ Well, Merry Christmas Virginia.

And what's bad is that the response wasn't "THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS, and VIOLATES FREEDOM!" but rather; "An idea that is ahead of it's time."

Let america try something like this.. I'll be the first to go, since I'll be resisting with a gun.

[Blake Noble]

I'll be the first to go, since I'll be resisting with a gun.

No doubt a whole truckload of $h! is about to hit the fan in the U.S. That is why I am relocating before I resort to drastic measures. :AH-HA_wink:

[regfootball]

this ranks up there with the love of soccer and being in love with the notion of a 138hp astra as a performance car

[CARBIZ]

Was there a war or something that I missed? There is way too much hysteria on these issues. Even if oil rises to $150 a barrel, technology will come to the rescue. It always does.

As I have said many times, I refuse to support any of these carbon taxes until the UN imposes some form of birth control on south Asia and Asia. Let them buy birth credits when another kid drops out, and then I will pay carbon taxes. Until then, I refuse to feel guilty about running my a/c or driving to work as long as 150 million babies a year pop out of the 'emering markets.'