Make Prices Reward "Green" Choices by The Geonomists

Hi, Vishal, and thanks for asking. Each year, every jurisdiction modifies its taxes and spending. Some of those changes are due to insider influence, some due to grassroots influence. In the past, these geonomic reforms have been passed into law both ways. How policy changes is really not a secret, but it is little known, ironically, to people who hope to change policy. But once a legislature is willing — after sufficient lobbying — the changes could be implemented over five years. For example, lawmakers could lower counterproductive taxes by 20% p.a. until they’re gone, while raising smart taxes by 20% of their target over the same time span. Similarly, officeholders could lower subsidies to special interests by 20% p.a. while creating and increasing a Citizen’s Dividend, sort of like Social Security for the populace, say, all registered voters. Of course, a jurisdiction may not adopt the full geonomic program, but even adopting part — e.g., shifting taxes off buildings, onto land — does a tremendous amount of environmental good, as Harrisburg and other towns in Pennsylvania have shown. Plus, it is a tax shift that people in a local jurisdiction could win. I’m trying to keep my answers pithy, so if you have any further questions, please feel free to send them to me. Thanks again.

I feel subsidies and taxes are crucial if we want to motivate some of the greatest contributors to climate change and if we want to see a mentality shift towards taking action for our actions. However, this is such a complicated process. Do you know how we could implement this strategy at a public level?