jo_hamilton
on 12th Mar 07, 12:24:13 said:
Under a current policy proposal for a lower carbon society, every adult in the UK would get an equal carbon allowance to cover their home energy use and personal travel including flights. These allowances would reduce over time as the UK's carbon budget falls. People would be allowed to buy and sell ‘spare' allowances: those with high carbon lifestyles would have to pay to get the extra allowances they need. But what about children? Are allowances only for adults or should children get a full adult allowance? Alternatively, children could be given a partial allowance, but how big should this be? The bigger the allowance children get, the less of the national carbon budget is left to share between adults. So this issue would affect everyone, not just the half of the population which lives in households including dependent children. Possible starting points for debate and discussion: - Children deserve a full carbon allowance as a matter of principle - they are people too.
- Children are the responsibility of their parents who should be responsible for their carbon ‘cost' as well as their financial cost, so they should not get their own allowances.
- Children on average have lower carbon emissions than adults so should get a lower allowance.
Some of these discussions reflect workshops which are taking place in three school in Oxford in the week beginnning 12th March 2007.
gobion
on 12th Mar 07, 14:50:38 replied:
Wow! What a subject.
In short reply - I think children should get the same carbon
allowance, otherwise the poorest (and often largest) families will
be hit hardest by any othe scheme.
Gobion
dave
on 14th Mar 07, 15:42:15 replied:
Frankly, I oppose the idea of carbon "allowances" when compared
to taxes. By making the credits tradable, it's really just another
form of currency, with all of the bureaucratic shenanigans and
effort involved in organisation and monitoring. Of course, it does
seem less depressing to the less understanding when presented as an
allowance, and there are a few other benefits which I can think
of.
tina
on 15th Mar 07, 12:22:21 replied:
As one of the researchers involved in talking to schools about
personal carbon allowances and children's rights I see a lot of
advantages to personal allowances rather than taxation (e.g. public
education and engagement, equity, better distributional effects,
public & political acceptability).
However, even if you're not convinced personal allowances are
the way ahead, it's very interesting to consider whether under a
system like this children would get an allowance or not. My
personal view is that a partial allowance for children would be a
fair and publicly acceptable option. But we haven't really asked
the public if they would agree! Certainly adults have a wide range
of often fiercely held views - from no allowances for children to
full allowances. So, it has been very useful to see what some young
people's thoughts are on this topic and I hope there will be more
comments added via this website....
alyson
on 5th Apr 07, 16:30:37 replied:
In any other case like paying for tickets or responsibilities I
would always say don't make children pay or don't give them all the
burden. But here it is different. Yes, I think children should have
their own allowances. Children are often used as excuses as to why
families act in environmentally poor ways - using the excuse of
parents 'having nothing' when they were children. If you ask a
child about environmental issues they generally clear cut views in
favour of the environment and common sense. By not charging them
for things like flights you are giving a dual message that it's ok
for them to pollute and adults hold all the cards - the
responsibilities and the solutions.
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