Response to the unsung inventor of Carbon Tax David G Wilson

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/08/09/the-unsung-inventor-carbon-tax/f1xFyWmaXf2XzW3nVxrNJK/story.html


Hello I am David Dunn from Colchester in England and been a glasshouse grower for several years until 1980 when I sold the 10 acre glasshouse complex as a going concern growing hydroponic style strawberries with full computer control over the climate control C02, temperature, humidity and light levels. We incorporated integrated pest control grew the crop as organically as possible within the scope possible at the time. I supplied all the major supermarkets in the UK .


To keep this brief since selling the business I have , as a hobby been looking into how to help the planet against global warming and as I have been involved in how to manipulate the glasshouse environment and being a business man and entrepreneur thought this would be a good hobby to start from as I have always taken a keen interest with global politics and world peace, and my father has written several books on the subject.


Firstly I ventured into the subject from a technical point of view , and naively thought it was possible to have a technical fix , which is still true that a many technical fixes need to be achieved if we are to have any real advancement on climate change, However it soon became apparent like you have found . it has to be an economical solution as people in the end respond to financial incentives , and I found this out by rewarding all my workers on a bonus and piece work system of payment , which both reduced the work force needed and also productivity went up several hundred percent! Even the banks now do this to every ones disgust , but it works. This made me realise that any change has to come from each individual , as it is them who spend money and cause the damage we all accept is happening through fossil fuels and other GHG's.


Secondly I have been involved in growing crops in as environmental and organic way as possible despite no extra rewards for doing so, but I have always felt I had to try to walk as gently on the planet as possible and leave it as undisturbed ass possible. So I have always taken a strong interest in the way the eco and bio systems work on the planet and how mankind is upsetting the balance and possibly making agriculture vulnerable and non sustainable in the long term but critically it may be this change that is having also a big effect on the carbon bank within the soil which both has an effect on the climate but also reduces the productivity of the soil as bank of nutrition for plants.


Thirdly , I began to realise what energy was, it was not just a cheap form of labour , although it is via electricity and all the motors that are driven by it and auto-mobiles etc. , It is to me the source of all of man endeavours and linked with all the other FREE at source Natural Resources, make up everything we all take for granted every day, Food, shelter . transport. health , education and everything else we all use and consume. Money is in effect potential energy and when it is spent , energy is used in all its forms , but the base fossil fuels is far the greatest are released into all the goods and services we all consume ,


MONEY= Energy + Pollution, Your salary or profit = Your Carbon footprint

It probably not actually completely correct , but is near enough without being a scientist.


So Finally I believe in scrapping all existing taxes to avoid tax evasion,collection costs,fraud and avoidance and replace in with a single NATURAL RESOURCE TAX, collected as near to source as possible on all natural resources based on the damage there use does to the planet and environment.

This linked with a death tax as proposed by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates Senior , and a Citizens Wage , would I believe set the world into a totally new direction , whilst retaining a competitive Capitalist and more Democratic society that is more open , transparent and morally and ethically acceptable to all mankind and the natural world.


The result would be a revolution in all aspects of business, from design, manufacture, supply and consumption through to recycling and looking after the environment.


Let the consumer decide what to spend money on , based on the real costs of damage to the environment of all the goods and devices they consume. Their should be no preferential treatments for individuals or businesses.



I think I have the view point of an holistic outsider and not one with narrow and constricted views that many have from their specialized training and work. That is why I believe it is not any one individual who has the right to decide, but all of us on a day to day basis, through our buying habits and decision making based on the the damage many of the items we use do indirectly to the planet.


A carbon tax as you suggest and being forwarded by James Hansen is a good start, but there must be a sequence of events that leads to a more full understanding of the planets resources, from land use, through to air and water and all the natural resources that god has bestowed upon the planet for the benefit of the natural world and mankind.


I know know I am not alone in being left out of any discussions in this field, but it seems that mankind does not change much , in that he is greedy and want self recognition and the few outsiders are always bypassed as we upset the cart to often , so the powerful cannot always get their way.


My Dream is for some universities to model tax and fiscal systems based on protection of the planet rather than protect of man's greed to consume ever more and for man to action it.



dream on


dream on


One Day.................... If its not to late?


David Dunn