Below, I have reproduced, copied, copyright-stolen, whatever, part of an editorial by Wall Street Journal opinion columnist Holman Jenkins, Jr. in which he suggests that efforts to limit, human-caused increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration are basically pointless.
True, efforts to limit human-caused increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration are effective only to the extent that they are designed in such a way as to be effective. But that's not impossible to do. Here's one way that would work.
Impose a carbon capture charge (CCC) on everything the production or use of which results in the emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Then use the revenue generated to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide and sequester it underground or convert it to mineral form.
So what of the cost? The lowest estimate of the cost of large scale direct air capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide is around US$100 per ton, or 10 Cents per kilogram. That means a carbon capture charge for gasoline, for example, would be US$0.23 per litre or US$0.89 per US Gallon.
Other products, meat, wool, cotton, lumber, etc., generate less, mostly very much less, carbon per kilogram consumed than gasoline, or other fuels, including natural gas, diesel, and coal. What that means is that most or all human caused atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions could be recaptured without bankrupting the world.
How would governments deploy CCC revenue to achieve sequestration of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions? By inviting tenders and placing contracts with multiple bidders. In this way a variety of technologies could be evaluated at scale, until the best methods are identified and deployed.
Simple, really. So no need for Homan Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal to shrug off the problem of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide. A clear and simple path exists that allows mankind to end the transformation of the chemical composition of the air we breath.
True, not all governments will adopt such a program at once. But for those who take the lead, the cost of free riders can be eliminated by applying a carbon capture charge to goods from countries that fail to impose their own carbon capture charge, or other means to eliminate net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.
Related
Canspeccy:
Rising Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration, Part I: Carbon Dioxide Is Not a Greenhouse Gas
About Carbon Dioxide: We Got One Thing Right
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