To think the government should allocate individual carbon passports?

[julieca]

I think the government should issue everyone in the country with a carbon passport giving a set amount of carbon you can generate every year. Every time you do something where carbon outputs can be measured e.g. flights, pay your heating bill, buy petrol, buy a new car - a carbon allowance is deducted from your passport.
But you can also sell and buy your carbon allowance. So people who never fly or use a car can make a bit of money by selling their carbon allowance.
The government could have pledged to reduce individual carbon allowances every year.
This will reduce flights, cars, etc but through a more capitalist approach, than a central state approach.
So YANBU - yes this should happen
YABU - no a stupid idea

let’s give even more of our choice and freedom away

Sigh. The old evil commies vs good capitalists nonsense.

Remember, future generations will have no freedom because the planet will not be able to sustain much life very soon. So harp on about your personal freedoms, (which imo we have too much of in the western world wrt to personal consumption and pollution) and fuck the future generations because we aren’t able to possibly consider any sacrifices eh?

Like I said, humanity doesn’t possess the wisdom to tackle this, and is largely selfish.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Interesting idea.

I’ve always thought council tax should be per person in the household so an individual passport re carbon (children added to both parents) and one for businesses would make for a good discussion.

Would make for more personal responsibility and anything that encourages people to look at budgeting more is a bonus. They would need to ensure they had the resources to pay for extra themselves not the state,

You realise that when Maggie Thatcher started charging what we now call "Council Tax" per person, people rioted?

The more children you have the less credits you get to start with

@julieca

Years ago people used to move closer to work. New factories opened and people moved. They did not commute long distances, or very few did.

Right. My own great-grandfather did the same. However, what about those, like me who can’t afford to live near to where I work and where I live has very limited employment opportunities that are actual careers with progression, stability and decent pay?

Having children is the worst thing you can do so I hope people who have less children get more points? Also vegetarians should get more points and those that recycle. Oh and people who waste food need to be penalised as a third of all food grown doesn't get eaten. Those that commute will need penalising especially all those NHS workers who can't afford to live in London or other expensive big cities. But they shouldn't worry because I don't drive so I'll be happy to sell some of my carbon allowance to them - I imagine the carbon allowance black market will be huge though so I really hope it's worth something. How you monitor it would be interesting - guess we'd just have to hope everyone was honest about their usage and knew exactly what a 4 mile car journey in a diesel/having the heating on for an hour/taking an 8 hour flight etc equated to in points.

Absolute lunacy OP, the sort of thing a 10 year old would come up with as a solution - or someone that was bitter that other people went on holidays abroad and they didn't.

I'm retired with one child so I shall be able to spend mine on holidays rather than commuting to work, sounds good to me.

It would be a blunt instrument but not a bad idea. Something like this is probably a fair way to manage carbon descent. I don’t think people should be able to trade their points and there should be a scheme for companies and other institutions.

And I’m sorry but long commutes are a choice, not a human right.

@julieca - how much would that cost to implement? And really we should all be doing our bit, it's the big things that will make a difference.

@Hiphopopotamus

No - I think the governments around the world should focus on the 100 companies that between them account for over 70% of carbon emissions, and stop trying the put the issue on to individuals when the problem is systemic.

This.

Concentrate on the big users and stop focusing on the little guys.

@NantesElephant

It would be a blunt instrument but not a bad idea. Something like this is probably a fair way to manage carbon descent. I don’t think people should be able to trade their points and there should be a scheme for companies and other institutions.

And I’m sorry but long commutes are a choice, not a human right.

As the OP hasn’t answered me. What should I do? All the people I know who have a long commute don’t do it by choice, they do it because they have to. Usually because they cannot afford to live where they work and there aren’t decent jobs in their local area. I don’t see it as a ‘choice’. I’d love to live closer to work but I can’t afford it. I’d love to have a similar job in my local town but there aren’t any. I didn’t want to move from the SE where I didn’t need to drive, but both DH & I were made redundant and couldn’t afford to stay.

Chrissy of course it is a choice.

Every time you do something where carbon outputs can be measured e.g. flights, pay your heating bill, buy petrol, buy a new car - a carbon allowance is deducted from your passport.

Well, every parent would need to account for the huge carbon consumption of having children. Every child born in the West (or the global North, if you like) uses around 4 times the resources that a child born in the global South consumes.

So anyone with a child would automatically have a quadrupled carbon consumption bill.

How? Seriously? As I said, I cannot afford to live near work. I couldn’t when I worked in London either but was lucky enough to live in towns that had decent connections to get me to work at all hours. That isn’t the case now.

Last week I had to go to a town about 20 miles away and was driving along a main A-road. I hadn’t been that way for a couple of years and noticed all the new housing estates being built on land that was previously used for farming. There is NO public transport for the people who will buy these houses, bar a few local buses. No train stations at all. Most will probably work in either of the cities that are at each end of the A-road (about 35 miles between them). Most will have to drive, particularly if they work shifts. There is one of those guided busway things, but most people who use it drive there and just use it for the last few miles into the city.

Chrissy but if there was a carbon passport, no one would buy those houses.
You said in the town you live there are no well-paid jobs. You are choosing to travel for better pay. It is an obvious choice, but it is one.

Is the idea to impose globally or on just the west?

Britain. Unless you have a world dictator?
By the way I love the Isle of Rum, a gorgeous island.

It’s not just better pay @julieca, it’s security, progression etc. I want to know I’m somewhere that offers advancement opportunities if I wanted to take them and I was good enough. I don’t want to be in a dead-end job that doesn’t offer that. My dad used to work in a big engineering works in my town and “worked his way up”, as did several other people he worked with. It closed, all were made redundant and from then, he had to travel much further to get a job that was actually a lower grade than what he’d done as there was nothing locally. He and my mum eventually bought their own business using money from the sale of my DGDs house.

TBH I’d love to WFH or locally and not have to travel at all but I have no skill to sell so self-employment is unfortunately not an option.

I think it is just being imposed on Mumsnet

I am quit surprise people are engaging seriously. From op's answer, I just assume sh is taking a piss and is just provoking pople

@Wazzzzzzzup do you always think the worst of people?
Of course I am not taking the piss.

[quote julieca]@Wazzzzzzzup do you always think the worst of people?
Of course I am not taking the piss.[/quote]
On here? Yeah

You forgot to add DC OP, or have you got loads

My goodness OP is getting a hard time!

She just suggested it as an interesting idea to debate - she’s not implementing it as government policy!

@RedRiverShore I suggested only adults would get a carbon allowance.
I guess it is not workable. But I am seriously worried for the future and I think drastic action is needed. Not for me, but for our children.
But I don't think it will happen. Everyone wants to carry on as they always have.

The DC don't get the allowance you would be penalised for each child and get less allowance for each extra child