This video by an American politician is worth watching. It's basically about Hansen's fee-and-dividend proposal, but he uses the term "carbon rebate" rather than "carbon tax" - focussing on the dividend side of the proposal. His comparison of the rebate cheque with the deniers' lump of coal is particularly effective. A fee-and-dividend system would have to be global to have much effect, but national systems would be a good place to start

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-ESU3srToo

Global carbon tax petition breaks 100

My global carbon tax petition finally broke 100 yesterday, with 10 new names. Five of them are from Belgium, one from Netherlands, and so I think they're connected. The first to sign yesterday was a Mrs. Christina Lambrecht from Belgium. She seems to be an expert on Basic Income, which means this idea would appeal to her.

A few days ago I put a comment about my petition on a posting on the Basic Income News website. Soon after that a Dr. Karl Widerquist signed. He also seems to be a Basic Income expert. So maybe things are starting to snowball a bit.

The petition is at www.thepetitionsite.com/286/384/042/petition-for-a-referendum-on-a-global-carbon-tax/

Sulphur dioxide safety net wouldn't work

Gwynne Dyer has posted a column talking about how work by researchers at Reading University have shown that trying to control global warming by injecting sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere would lead to a 30 percent decline in rainfall in most of the tropics.

While we might need geo-engineering techniques as stopgap measures, we are extremely unlikely to achieve anything without addressing the root of the problem. Climate scientist James Hansen has called for a global carbon tax with the proceeds to be distributed to all, a proposal he calls fee-and-dividend. I have posted a petition based on his proposal on Care2. You can view the petition (and hopefully put your name on it) at www.thepetitionsite.com/286/384/042/petition-for-a-referendum-on-a-global-carbon-tax/