suggest that carbon dividends be granted based on income and phasing out as income increases. also consider dividend being paid based on carbon reductions made by the individual not just for being a citizen. Use it to encourage low or no cost energy efficiency improvements.
@Michael Rubin Varying the dividend by income introduces immense complexity because of the need to report and verify incomes. The current proposal for carbon fee and dividend is plenty progressive (tilted to benefit lower-income households) as it is. You can find more information on CCL's training pages.
The same problem holds for trying to verify energy efficiency gains or other household behavior as the criterion for paying out the dividend. You don't need such a complex system to encourage people to switch toward cleaner energy and more efficient use of energy. The net dividend--that is, what's left over after rising costs for fossil fuels--depends largely on what households do to change their behavior.
The beauty of carbon fee and dividend is it provides powerful incentives for climate-friendly behavior and equitable financial impacts with minimal administrative costs or government intrusion. It thus holds appeal to progressives and (some) conservatives alike.
Hi @Michael Rubin,
Thanks for thinking about this. It sounds like you'd like to see a more equitable distribution of the dividend based on income, and also that you're hoping the dividend creates even more benefits with household projects to reduce emissions. Those are good goals.
In addition to Jonathan's excellent answers above, I also encourage you to check the challenges to Energy Innovation Act resource:
Do a search for “income” and “restrictions”, and check out the answer to your two concerns (and many others!):
> Prefer restrictions on how individuals can spend their dividend
> Prefer high-income people don't receive a dividend
Hope this helps!
with gratitude,
Debbie
Search Forums
Forum help
Select a question below
CCL Community Guidelines
- Discuss, ask and share
- Be respectful
- Respect confidentiality
- Protect privacy
CCL Blog Policy Area Categories
- Price on Carbon
- CBAM
- Clean Energy Permitting Reform
- Healthy Forests
- Building Electrification and Efficiency