Thursday, January 31, 2008

Carrot & Stick: a possible solution for carbon emittion tariffs?

One thing about ecological economics fits my Chinese root very well. We like to be peacemakers and avoid confrontation presented by an "either...or" argument. A bit pragmatic I suppose, instead of wasting time on arguing, we prefer to spend time on finding a common ground and then to get problems solved.

Problem-solving is also one of the top three traits of an ecological economics in my opinion (what the other two? Being trans-disciplinary and systematic, probably). So when I saw a situation like this, my first response was, "We have to dial tariffs both up and then down!"

In a short run it seems a stick approach is more effective to save European producers from an unfair competition from American and Chinese, who don't have to pay any carbon tax (or its equivalent) yet. However, a carrot policy is critical if we want to realize the dual goals of reducing carbon emission globally as well as increasing international trade. This carrot is advanced technology of clean energy that offers to China and India for free/with low cost. In the long run, this seems to be the only sustainable solution to me.

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