The difficult part is it’s tough to actually measure pollution emitted by an entity accurately and fine accordingly.
You can guess how much CO2 output there is from a refinery, sure, and fine them for it, but they will just raise the prices of end products to compensate for it.
In the end gas goes up the same amount but the less affluent people dependant on it won’t get rebates. They’re money just goes to the corporations anyways in order to pay for the fines.
but they will just raise the prices of end products to compensate for it.
Not if you slap that bullshit down with regulations: Prevent them from pulling that kind of shit and when they find a way around it (because they will) you put a stop to that shit too.
Yeah I can see the argument that implementing the regulatory framework necessary to monitor emissions would be more in our long term interests (and possibly cheaper in the long run) and better than hoping a broad tax will cause bad actors to act better.
how much CO2 output there is from a refinery, sure, and fine them for it, but they will just raise the prices of end products to compensate for it.
If their polluting activities ultimately lead to fewer people buying their products because of that increased cost, maybe that’s the financial incentive they need to clean up their act?
Though I don’t hold my breath that big corporations are willing (or able) to think beyond next month’s profit and instead look a year or 5 into the future sustainability of their enterprise (let alone their negative impacts on the society that they exist in)
