What would C&S mean for you?

What would it mean for you if Cap & Share were introduced? Would you be better off, or worse off?

Broadly speaking, if you have a larger carbon footprint (than the national average) you will have to pay more, and if you have a smaller carbon footprint (than the national average) you will benefit.

To see why, let's pretend we have just 2 people in the country, A and B, where A has an Above-average carbon footprint and B has a Below-average carbon footprint. In fact let's say A's is 3 times the size of Bs. Suppose we want to meet a cap for the country of 10 tonnes of CO2 per person.

A and B each receive a certificate for 10 tonnes of CO2. If the "carbon price" is $10 / tonne (or think in terms of any other currency), each certificate is worth $100. They sell them at the bank, and a fossil fuel supplier buys them, which entitles the fossil fuel supplier to bring in the amount of fossil fuel as will emit 20 tonnes of CO2 when burnt, and to add the cost of buying the certificates into the price of fuel.

If A continues to have a carbon footprint 3 times as big as B's, this means that A and B will have carbon footprints of 15 tonnes and 5 tonnes respectively. (This averages 10 tonnes, so that the cap is indeed met - which is has to be, as there were only 20 tonnes of certificates issued).

So the cost of living for A and B goes up by $150 and $50 respectively. (This is the price of $10 / tonne embedded in the price of fuel - either directly in the petrol price, or indirectly in the price of goods which used fuel in their manufacture and transport).

So what's the end result? Well, A and B both got $100 when selling their certificates, so taking this and the price rises into account, B is now better off by $50 and A is worse off by $50.

This is what happens in general. If you have a smaller carbon footprint than the national average, you will benefit.

And everyone will gain from the knowledge that their children and grandchildren will be inheriting a habitable planet.