For Goodness Sake, Make All the Money in Energy You Possibly Can

Apparently, Bernie Sanders wants to move all our IOUs (investor-owned power utilities) into the public sector, though I can’t image why.  What’s the problem with making money if you’re doing it in an environment where you’re cleaning up your mess, and not dumping it in the sky for someone else to clean up?

There are probably at least a dozen variations on this theme, but if, for instance, you implement my personal favorite, the carbon fee and dividend plan that we’ve been discussing here, you’ll clean up the energy and transportation sectors so fast you won’t have time to blink.

Everyone involved in business transactions that involve carbon pays a fee according to its amount that is refunded, dollar for dollar, to the general populace.  Big carbon sellers/consumers will lose money; low carbon sellers/consumers will make the exact same amount.  Incentive to use less carbon will drive down its use and create furious R&D in the low-carbon space.