Discretionary Emissions

Would CCL support legislative change curtailing our discretionary emissions?

4 Replies
Ricky Bradley
849 Posts

@Seth Jordan So that we're on the same page, can you give us an example?

I believe that this is a topic that is not discussed enough. These are the emissions that a business or individual can survive without, if necessary. An example of this are the travel emissions accrued from a vacation trip or the emissions from purchased non-essential goods. I am not stating that all non-essential emissions must be banned. However, these emissions are typically not regulated nor restricted by any laws. If we were to curtail these emissions, the transition to 100% clean energy use will be much easier and quicker.

@Seth Jordan Welcome to CCL! And thanks for raising a thoughtful question. I think what you are getting at would be addressed by a carbon fee and dividend. This one of our foundational policy ideas. Including the “social cost” of fossil fuels in the price of a good or service would give each of pause before deciding on vacation travels (for example). Of course our real hope is that a gradual increase in the carbon fee would inspire businesses to innovate such that (eventually) a dream vacation doesn't have to break the carbon bank. Does this make sense?

I understand the concept and goals of a carbon fee. Essentially, they are aiming at encouraging corporations to invest in more sustainable energy sources. In turn, this responsibility of the cost of carbon would be passed along to the individuals. There are a couple of downsides to this policy idea. First, this would allow major polluters to greenwash their companies and distort their success on a renewable energy transition. Second, very wealthy consumers can bypass this carbon fee because they can afford to do so. Not only would these wealthy consumers ignore the price increases, but impoverished consumers would not be able to keep up with the change if no alternative is provided.
My argument is to focus the attention on the habits and practices of the ultra-wealthy. This could certainly include a carbon fee on some things. However, I think focusing the scope of what needs to be addressed could tackle these high emission sectors. One example, that is not a carbon fee, could include legislation that puts a limit on kWh usage per day for an individual. Another example could include an exponential tax depending on how many homes you own. These examples are off the top of my head, but I hope the message I'm providing is clear. From my perspective, we need as much change as possible, real fast. We cannot rely on "encouraging" companies to do the right thing. Time and time again, we are let down.

Forum help

Select a question below

CCL Community's Sitewide Forums are an easy and exciting way to interact with other members on CCL Community.  The Sitewide Forums are focused on subjects and areas of general interest to members.  Each forum consists of topics that members have posted, along with replies from other members. Some forums are divided into categories to group similar topics together. 

Any members can post a topic or reply to a topic.

The Sitewide Forums are open to the entire CCL community to create, comment on, and view online discussions.  Posts and comments should address the subject or focus of the selected forum. 

Note: Categories can only be created by community administrators.

Guidelines for posting: (also see general Community Guidelines)

  • Don’t see your question or topic? Post it.
  • Be thoughtful, considerate (nonpartisan) and complete. The more information you supply, the better the better and more engaging the conversation will be. 
  • Feel like cursing? Please don’t.
  • Ask yourself, “Would my topic post reveal sensitive or confidential information?” If so, please don't post!

Flag/report any offending comments, and then move on. In the rare instance of a comment containing a potentially credible threat, escalate that immediately to CCL.

If the Sitewide Forum has no categories, select the "Add Topic" button at the top of topics window. 

If the forum has categories, when you click on "Add Topic," a dropdown list of the categories appears. Select the desired category and then "Add Topic."
In either case this brings up a box to enter both the topic subject and topic text.

If you have questions or wish to add comments on a posted forum topic, open the post and click the blue “Add Reply” button at top. You can also click on the “Reply” link at the bottom of the original topic posting.

This opens a text box. Add your reply. You can also add documents by dragging a file into the text box. Click “Post” at the bottom of the reply window This will add your reply to other replies (if there are any), sorted by oldest on top. 

If, however, you want to reply directly to someone else’s reply, click on the “Reply” link at the bottom of their reply. 

When replying to a topic post or a topic reply it may be helpful to quote the original text, or the part that your reply is referring to. To quote a topic or reply, click on the "Quote" link at bottom of post. 

When you do this the full text of either the post or reply will be pulled into a reply text box. If desired, you can remove parts of the quoted text in order to get the portion you are interested in quoting.

You can subscribe to notifications of new postings from any of the Sitewide Forums or forum categories. To subscribe, select the green “Subscribe” button at the top of the forum. Click on dropdown arrow to select frequency of notification.

If you are already subscribed, the button will display “Unsubscribe.”  Select it to unsubscribe or select the dropdown arrow to modify frequency of notification. 

Note: If you subscribe to a Sitewide Forum, such as "Media Relations" that has categories (such as "LTEs and Op-Eds"), you will also be subscribed to all the categories. If you wish to subscribe to only one or more of the categories, unsubscribe to the parent forum and subscribe individually to desired categories.

.

If you see a topic post or reply that interests you or that you like, you can click the “Like” icon at the bottom of the topic post or the reply. This lets the poster know that the topic was helpful. It also contributes to the topic’s popularity, which influences where it is listed in the "Popular" forum tab. There are also additional reactions available for members to use. Mouseover the "Like" icon to choose one of these options: Love, Clap, Celebrate, Insightful, or Interesting.

CCL Community Guidelines

  • Discuss, ask and share
  • Be respectful
  • Respect confidentiality
  • Protect privacy

More guidelines
 

CCL Blog Policy Area Categories