Letter in Guardian

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 11:32 am

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2 ... -and-power

From Alexis Rowell of http://www.cuttingthecarbon.co.uk/

cubes · Post by **cubes** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:51 pm

That guardian article is a load of crap.

Particularly that 2nd part (by Ralph Gordon?) - has he looked at how much power modern equipment uses on standby? I checked my LCD tv... it uses 0.0W on standby...

I'll admit I don't fully understand TEQs though. Any basic info on them?

Post by **clv101** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 12:58 pm

It's hardly a "load of crap". Your new TV might have a good standby mode but many many don't, especially set top boxes and amplifiers.

There's a link to the TEQs site in Alexis Rowell letter.

cubes · Post by **cubes** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:00 pm

Hmm, so it's basically rationing by a different name?

Honestly, I can't see rationing/quotas working. In principle it's fine and I'm sure it works in theory. In practice politics will creep in (as it does in all the most big schemes, green or not) and favoured industries/groups will end up getting preferential treatment at everyone elses expense.

Also, can you imagine some people in this country getting their heads around this? Lots of, not stupid people, but people who really have problems understanding the ideas like this and just want to live their lives.

I'll admit that I have no better ideas at the current time and have to think that there probably arn't any feasible ones that will keep more than a small number of people happy.

edit: actually this is sounding a bit like a rant now I re-read it. Still, it's to complex for the average person to understand.

So, you use your TEQ when buying energy/fuel but nothing else? What about the companies that produce stuff - they still need TEQ for their energy but they don't get issued with any and they don't collect them from customers?

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:32 pm

Companies would get TEQs.

Hansen is pushing hard for a 'carbon fee with dividends'. It's a tax on carbon at source - wellhead, mine or port of entry - and the money raised is distributed equally to all citizens maintaining fiscal neutrality. The tax goes up year by year.

British Columbia has actually put into practice such a carbon tax with the dividend being distributed as tax credits.

cubes · Post by **cubes** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:58 pm

Sounds interesting. The only way these schemes are going to work is to remove any need for individuals to actively do things imo.

I do think that companies shouldn't get TEQ though - it's so open to political abuse that they won't be able to help themselves.