I was reading Bill Gates’ article about jet fuel should be like microwave ovens:
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Introducing-a-new-way-to-invest-in-clean-energy-innovation
He said that “If we are going to get to zero emissions by 2050, we need a business model that will eliminate the Green Premium.” Or similar words to that effect.
What he is saying is that the world must use Wright’s Law to cause efficiencies of production to bring down the costs of renewables to eliminate the ‘Green Premium.’
And then I recalled that Mr. Gates, living in the Pacific Northwest, should be acutely aware of the heat dome that has broken temperature records all over where he lives. This has shown that climate change is not waiting for 2050, or even 2035. Climate change is here now. It must be dealt with immediately!
His idea of using Wright’s Law with a business model that eliminates the green premium over time will take too long. We need much more than this. We need laws like the light bulb laws that outlawed using incandescent lights. Any objections to these laws must be eliminated and they must take action quickly.
We need tariffs on fossil fuels or anything else that must be replaced due to using fossil fuels. In other words, the stove or other appliance that uses natural gas must be tariffed and the tariffs used to produce a substitute.
The chemicals that are currently produced using fossil fuels must be tariffed and the tariffs must be used to produce substitutes using renewables. One major use of fossil fuels is fertilizer, which must be made from renewables such as green hydrogen.
TARIFFS
The tariff must work both ways. Tariffs have been used to being the cost of foreign goods up to the price of domestic goods, with the fees going to the government. Instead, the tariff fee must be equal to half of the difference between the foreign and domestic goods. The fee must then be used to bring the cost of the domestic goods down to equal the cost plus tariff of the foreign goods.
We must immediately take action to get to zero CO2 emissions. 2035 will be too late!
