Questions of social and economic class must be at the centre of our response to the climate crisis, to address the huge inequalities between the carbon footprints of the rich and poor and prevent a backlash against climate policies, the economist Thomas Piketty has said.
Regulations will be needed to outlaw goods and services that have unnecessarily high greenhouse gas emissions, such as private jets, outsized vehicles, and flights over short distances, he said in an interview with the Guardian.
Rich countries must also put in place progressive carbon taxes that take into account people’s incomes and how well they are able to reduce their emissions, as current policies usually fail to adjust for people’s real needs.
I would love to see large SUVs and trucks taxed to hell and back.
Definitely unless it’s needed for your profession. Plumbers, electricians, gardeners, contractors, etc are the only people who need to drive trucks. David Chaddington doesn’t need his F 150 to go between school and home
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Well, yeah… until recently.
In the last year it feels like Australia has been indvaded by the oversized “truck”.
We’ve had 4wd “utes” forever. I think yanks would call these trucks but they’re more regular sized, Isuzu D-Max, Toyota Hilux, et cetera. They don’t look out of place in the super market car park.
For reasons unknown to me about a year ago we have been overrun with the big ford F150 or Ram trucks. If you whinge about it someone inevitably cries about how they need it for work… but they managed to survive with a regular ute until last year.
I’m not sure Ford and Dodge should be allowed to make things that big. Many businesses were doing fine in the US with trucks lower to the ground, that had larger more functional flat beds, for many years. It’s only recently that the big truck became a status symbol.
I work in carpentry and we drive a full electric Ford transit. Open bed pickup trucks are horrible if you work in a trade, with tools and materials in the bed easily stolen or damaged by weather. Trucks are stupid if you actually do work, and most people buy one to look cool, or for those rare times twice a year when they “need” a truck. Could just rent a fucking U-Haul.
If those professions really need a large vehicle they will be able to pass the additional costs on to their customers because all of their competition will be doing the same thing
A good solution would be to just ban them from cities without a special (possibly temporary & renewable) permit provided you can verify you need to use a truck/SUV in said urbna area
Perhaps, but I think we should always be wary of additional regulations. I wouldn’t say I’m “small government” but I feel like any additional rules has the burden of regulatory cost and unintended consequences.
Just tax the fuck out of fuel IMO. Make it so expensive that people actually change their behavior to minimise the cost.
Most countries have some kind of tax credit system to waive taxes on fuel for particular uses like transporting food and consumer goods, so a heavy tax on fuel doesn’t have to lead to inflation.
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