From: Chris Hibbert (chris@pancrit.org)
Date: Tue Feb 05 2002 - 00:07:39 MST
"Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" wrote:
> If pollution rights are deemed to be evenly split among all the humans in
> the world,
Evenly split among people is one possible solution. Given where political
power lies, a more common proposal is to allocate shares according to current
(or recent average) pollution. The economists say it doesn't matter in the
end to how much pollution will result, only in how the money gets from here to
there.
> then the market in environmental credits (go ahead, just try
> and sell "pollution credits")
There are currently markets in Sulfur Dioxide and other negative goods. I
think the Chicago Board of Trade manages them. Some people need them to keep
operating their business, other people would like to buy them off the market.
Both sides understand what they're buying.
> I don't think it would take much longer than five minutes before people
> started complaining about too many credits, not enough credits, prices
> being manipulated, and even antipoverty activists complaining about
> low-pollution environmentalist technologies driving down market prices,
> but hopefully the effect would remain positive despite the inevitable
> bickering.
Amen, brother.
Chris
-- Chris Hibbert http://discuss.foresight.org/~hibbert chris@pancrit.org
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