Blueprint for a Better Planet
(Page 8 of 10)
Just as a need for tax shifting exists, we also dearly need
to shift subsidies. A world facing the prospect of
economically disruptive climate change, for example, can no
longer justify subsidies to expand burning coal and oil.
Shifting these subsidies to the development of
climate-benign energy sources such as wind power, solar
power and geothermal power is the key to stabilizing the
Earth's climate. Shifting subsidies from road construction
to rail construction can increase mobility in many areas
while reducing carbon emissions. Eliminating
environmentally destructive subsidies reduces the burden on
taxpayers while discouraging the destructive activities
themselves.
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In a troubled world economy facing fiscal deficits at all
levels of government, exploiting these tax and subsidy
shifts with their double and triple dividends can help
balance the books and save the environment. Tax and subsidy
shifting promise gains in economic efficiency and
reductions in environmental destruction, a win-win
situation.
Unless we respond to the social and environmental issues
undermining our future, we may not be able to avoid
economic decline and social integration.
A CALL TO GREATNESS
History judges political leaders by whether they respond to
the great issues of their time. For today's leaders, that
issue is how to deflate the world's bubble economy before
it bursts. This bubble threatens the future of everyone,
rich and poor alike. It challenges us to restructure the
global economy, to build an eco-economy.
A sense is growing among the more thoughtful political and
opinion leaders worldwide that business as usual is no
longer a viable option, that unless we respond to the
social and environmental issues undermining our future, we
may not be able to avoid economic decline and social
disintegration. The prospect of failing states is growing
as mega-threats such as the HIV epidemic, water shortages
and land hunger threaten to overwhelm countries on the low
er rungs of the global economic ladder. Failed states are a
matter of concern not only because of the social costs to
their people, but also because they serve as ideal bases
for international terrorist organizations.
Thus, we now have some idea of what needs to be done and
how to do it. The United Nations has set social goals for
education, health and the reduction of hunger and poverty.
In my book Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a
Civilization in Trouble (available on MOTHER'S
Bookshelf, Page 127), I have sketched out a restructuring
of the energy economy to stabilize atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels, a plan to stabilize population, a strategy
for raising land productivity and restoring the Earth's
vegetation, and a plan to raise water productivity
worldwide. The goals are essential, and the technologies
are available.
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