Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is

In a show of commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, NZ became the first country in the world to levy a public carbon tax. NZers will now pay an extra $2.90 per week for electricity, petrol and gas, which is expected to add about 6% to household energy prices and 9% to businesses. The idea is to make polluting energy sources such as oil and coal more expensive than cleaner ones such as hydro, wind and solar power. Guardian: “The experiment will be watched closely by bigger countries which are also committed to reducing carbon emissions but are failing to reduce energy demand.”