[hedora]

One ton = 100 gallons of gasoline’s CO2 emissions. Many technologies would be in the $100-200 per ton range if they were scaled.

So, if any of those technologies were operating at scale, we could add a $2 / gallon tax to gasoline (or a similar upfront tax on new ICE engines, based on expected emissions), and then the transportation part of our economy would be carbon negative.

We could add similar taxes to things like concrete, and other greenhouse gas emitters.

This is all eminently doable, but it would hurt oil profits, so politicians and propagandists keep making sure it doesn’t happen. Private entities voluntarily funding actual carbon capture is the only feasible way to break the deadlock at this point (short of overthrowing ~ 100 governments at once).

[space_fountain]

It would also hurt normal people as driving, heating, electric all basically doubled. Not saying it’s not worth doing, but climate isn’t hard because of a bunch of greedy oil execs (though they obviously don’t make things easier)

[mullingitover]

I have some bad news about how future normal people are going to be hurt by drought, rising sea levels, and all the other effects of climate change.

[asynchronous]

Yeah but normal people tend to refuse to be the ones to suffer when we have private jets producing more than our cars emit in a year in a single flight. We’ll destroy the upper class before we let them use climate change to destroy the lower classes.

[space_fountain]

Note this is for a single car. Overall cars produced way more CO2. General aviation in general which I think includes private planes only admits maybe a 5th as much as passenger vehicles. That’s actually way higher than I expected, but again points to the fact that it isn’t a rich other causing global warming it’s more or less us. Though of course the rich have a vastly expanded impact and the truly poor do the least, but there are way less rich people

https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=P10153PC.pdf

[space_fountain]

Sure but all those problems come later and feel less certain than literally doubling every energy bill. Thus why it’s politically hard

[jahewson]

At first glance I thought you were off by a factor of 4x, as 100gal of gas weighs around 1/4 ton but then I realised that the oxygen in the CO2 is coming from the atmosphere.

[alexey-salmin]

> Many technologies would be in the $100-200 per ton range if they were scaled.

No

[vinay_ys]

Current US price is $1.09/litre. $0.52/litre ($2/gallon) more is 48% more.

[MattRix]

many (most?) other countries already pay that much, it’s very doable, and would encourage people to switch to more sustainable forms of transportation

[tristan957]

How do I switch to a more sustainable form of transportation when the nearest bus route is over 2 miles away with no sidewalks or bike lanes? I live in a major tech city by the way.

[MattRix]

switch to an electric car? the design of cities would adapt over time as well

[tristan957]

Where do I get the money for an electric car? I drive a 20 year old ICE. Why would I give up an almost $0 insurance bill plus regular maintenance costs for an electric car which I would then have all of the above plus a monthly payment? My gas usage is not that high. I might go through 50 gallons a month at 16.75 miles to the gallon.

[nikonyrh]

Not that high? I use about that much in a year. But I only use the car for hobbies and once-a-week heavy groceries, so I drive about 4000 km or 2500 miles in a year. The gasoline in Finland is about 9.8 USD/gallon at the moment :)

[asynchronous]

Man you’d be a popular politician