I just heard a radio program about Terrapass. You basically pay them to invest in "green" projects to offset the emissions from your personal transportation vehicle.
Undoing the global warming impact of your car's CO2 emissions is easier than you think.
TerraPass funds clean energy projects like wind farms, methane capture and more.
Third-party organizations verify that TerraPass has a guaranteed impact.
TerraPass is surprisingly affordable – a whole year of emissions for as little as $29.95.
This is a cute idea and I reckon that anything is better than nothing when it comes to the environment. But Terrapass is basically an opt-in charity program based on individual awareness and guilt. I seriously doubt the people who choose to purchase Yukons and Escalades in the first place are going to feel enough guilt about their decision to pay into this system.
What we need are mandatory systems to reduce emission which is to say, we need laws. I would start with electricity (coal power plants) and transportation (trucks and cars).
For individual transportation, I would create a tax system that reflects the level of vehicle emissions. People with lower mileage vehicles that pollute more would simply have to pay (a lot) for that privilege. Many states already have emission inspections every year or every other year for vehicles. I would simply extend that program to be every year and include an odometer check. In order to renew your registration, you would pay a fee based on your actual miles driven and the pollution rate of your vehicle. It seems easy enough to do.
In this scenario, a person that commutes every day in their SUV would pay a huge tax bill. The person who owns a Suburban but only uses it twice a year to move the boat would not. This idea is a use-tax and it would change behavior as well as simply get people thinking more about their behavior.
When people have to pay for their decisions, you incentivize them to change their behavior. Such a tax could raise a ton of money if done right although the amount should diminish over time as people do change. The tax money could be set to good use and the tax itself will create market opportunities for companies to offer cleaner products. That market today is limited to do-gooders who would joining Terrapass or who would buy a Pruis anyway.
When it comes to power plants, we are left with government regulation since it is not an individual-use situation. (At least not until utilities start the same type of use-priceing systems to pass costs along to customers.) For this situation, a carbon-trading system seems like a good way to go but, again, it must be mandated by the federal government. The idea just doesn't work as an opt-in idea.
