“The Climate Crisis subsumes the Peak Oil Crisis”

1. “The Climate Crisis subsumesthe Peak Oil Crisis” A carbon-tax-shift primer in 17 slides, by Charles Komanoff www.komanoff.net, www.greeningablock.org, www.rightofway.org, www.bridgetolls.org Averting climate destruction requires tax-shifting oil and other fossil fuels to “peak oil” price levels.

2. Americans emit in a day what others emit in a week.

3. Who Pollutes Most? The Wealthy

4. Carbon tax proportions Fuels are taxed by their carbon content per btu.

5. Why Carbon Taxes(or other fuel tax-shifts)? • Cheap anything (i.e., cheap carbon fuels) will never be conserved. • Standards/subsidies fall far short • “Gamed” (e.g., “CAFE”) • Diluted (e.g., hybrids) • Circuitous (e.g., NYS “RPS,” REC’s) • Scattershot (e.g., what about air travel?) • One-dimensional (behavioral change?) • Static (bypassed by dynamic Capitalism)

6. Gas Tax-Shift What car to buy Which car to drive How to drive VMT (miles traveled) Share (carpool) Chain trips Transit Walk/Bike Proximity CAFE vs. What car to buy Affecting Gas Use Decisions

7. Nearly 60% of oil (> 80% of fossil fuels) is not gasoline for cars. Freight Cars Heat Other Air RV’s Paving

8. As oil “peaks,” here come synfuels Only a carbon tax-shift can stop massive development of oil sands, oil shale, coal-into-oil, etc. to replace petroleum.

9. Energy Use Is “Elastic” • Gasoline usage is 9% down from where it would be with 2002 gas prices. • Pump prices have risen only 66% since 2003. Adjusted for inflation, the “real” increase is 50% – not the doubling or more commonly believed. • The slow growth in demand points to a “short-term price elasticity” of 0.2 — and as much as 0.7 in the long term. Demand for gasoline and other fuels is at least somewhat price-sensitive. • See http://www.komanoff.net/oil_9_11/price_elasticity_komanoff.xls

10. Tax-shifting Will Shrink Fuel Use

11. A “Starter” Carbon Tax-Shift • $37 / ton of carbon = • 10¢ / gallon of gas, jet fuel, etc. = • ¾ ¢ / kWh of electricity (U.S. avg) • Reduces U.S. CO2 emissions ~4% (in >5 yrs; less immediately) • Repeat 10 x

12. USA after “starter tax x 10” • Coal power out, wind farms in • SUVs out, sedans in • Incandescents & halogens out, CFL’s in • Costlier air and highway travel creates market pull for 300-mph intercity rail • Urban trips by bicycle up x 10, to 10% • Suburbs contract / Cities thrive • CO2 emissions down by 25-30% • Oil use down by 5-6 million barrels/day

13. “Progressive” Use of Carbon Tax Revenues EITHER • Distribute pro rata ($1,400/yr) OR • Tax Shift out of regressive taxes (shown )

14. Subsidies to Fossil Fuel Industry Pale beside Subsidy to Carbon

15. Who Pockets Subsidies? Keeping carbon cheap to protect the poor subsidizes jet-setting, jet-skiing, engine-idling, trophy-homing, ORV’ing, etc. Guess who benefits? (Hint: not poor people.) GM vice-chair, global-warming denier, Hummer mastermind (see “High and Mighty” (SUV exposé)

16. Who’s Taxing Carbon? • Denmark • Finland • Italy • Netherlands • Norway • Sweden • U.K. Hon. Mention Austria, Belgium, Germany, Japan

17. Principles Full-Cost Pricing Polluter Pays Constituencies Greens Justice Peak Oil Pressure Points States Elections Enviro Groups www.komanoff.net Building Supportfor Energy Tax-shifting