From 9928c6c25cf6138efc216e46b59d6dd333846c4e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Joe Carstairs Date: Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:22:03 +0100 Subject: chp1: smart market fixes --- chapter1.md | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------------------- 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-) (limited to 'chapter1.md') diff --git a/chapter1.md b/chapter1.md index a5d45fd..cb07ef8 100644 --- a/chapter1.md +++ b/chapter1.md @@ -264,33 +264,32 @@ remained largely academic, with little impact on politics, and indeed a vague grasp on what de-growth policy would actually mean in practice or who you could possibly convince to make it happen. [@vansintjan-2019; @cosme-2017] -Another favourite of green rhetors is to propose smart market-based policies -like carbon taxes, aimed at tweaking the incentives for private capital to nudge -the market into financing economic transformation. \[EXAMPLE\] - -Admittedly, this is a little better than proposing austerity, and has made a -little political inroad. The US, EU, and UK have all implemented carbon markets -and carbon taxes, although the carbon markets have widely been recognised to be -distorting and counter-productive, and the carbon prices so far have been set -too low to have any noticeable impact. Making this approach work still has some -very tall obstacles to climb. As soon as carbon prices are set high enough to -bite, without state intervention to redistribute investment, the cost of carbon -pricing is likely to fall hardest on the poorest. This is not politically -sustainable. - -This was decisively demonstrated in 2018 \[ALSO GORDON BROWN'S FUEL PRICE -ESCALATOR?\], after French President Emmanuel Macron attempted to raise fuel -taxes, purportedly in an attempt to curb greenhouse gas emissions \[EVIDENCE\]. -This move triggered an enormous wave of protests across France, symbolised by -the protester's uniform, the _gilet jaune_. Despite Macron's strong political +Another favourite of green rhetors is to propose smart market-based policies, +mainly taxing carbon, aimed at tweaking the incentives for private capital to +nudge the market into financing economic transformation. It's hard to disagree +with eloquent experts like Sir Dieter Helm [@legacy] who argues that a +sustainable economy must observe what he calls the 'polluter-pays principle.' +However, too often, smart market tweaks are proposed which exacerbate market +injustice, effectively levying the cost of economic transformation on those +least able to pay. This is not politically sustainable. + +In March 1993, for example, Norman Lamont announced a fuel price 'escalator', +promising to gradually increase fuel duty, partly in order to reduce carbon +dioxide emissions. A tobacco escalator followed in November. However, amidst +criticism that the fuel duty was regressive and ineffective and protests from +lorry drivers, Gordon Brown was forced in March 2000 to rescind the escalator +and reduce fuel duty [@parl-fuel-escalator; @bbc-fuel-duty-cut]. In 2018, the +'gilets jaunes' protest movement brought France to a standstill, the protests +having been triggered by the annual implementation of a similar fuel price +escalator scheme bequeathed to Emmanuel Macron by the previous government, +similarly motivated by environmental concerns. Despite Macron's strong political position at the beginning of the protests, he was forced to roll back the tax -increases alongside other concessions to the protesters \[EVIDENCE\]. +increases alongside other concessions to the protesters [@bbc-gilets-jaune]. -So, while smart market fixes might work in theory, we're still waiting for a -credible vision for how they might be politically sustainable. Thus, here too, -green rhetoric has failed to demonstrate to their audience that the change they -advocate will be good for them, and thus their proposals are politically -impossible. +So, while smart market fixes might work in theory, they are too often divorced +from any politically sustainable programme. Thus, here too, green rhetoric has +failed to demonstrate to their audience that the change they advocate will be +good for them, and thus their proposals are politically impossible. Taking another approach, many green rhetors advocate for a simple programme: listen to the science, then act rationally. This call to action suggests that @@ -476,9 +475,6 @@ catastrophic language is counter-productive in this context. ## TODO - Find quotes and page numbers in @{back-to-nature} and @{heat} -- Find an example of a green rhetor promoting smart market-based fixes -- Evidence: gilet jaune sparked by Macron attempting to implement a smart market-based climate fix -- Evidence: Macron had to back down after the gilet jaune protests - Explore and evidence: the green movement is on the back foot - Evidence: environmental NGOs don't do mass mobilisation - Find examples of 'listen to the scientists' and 'science denial' discourses @@ -487,4 +483,3 @@ catastrophic language is counter-productive in this context. - Explore: magical green proposals - Explore: PMC people feel powerless because the actions they have taken aren't very effective - Explore: how does 'listen to the scientists' and 'science denial' discourse lead to action? -- Explore: Gordon Brown's fuel-price escalator -- cgit v1.2.3