Re:September was the most anomalously hot month ever
by spenczar5 on Thursday October 05, 2023 @03:39PM
(#37783279)
The proposal was to crank up the price of oil directly. You couldnt price-curve your way past a $1,000 per CO2 ton tax. While plastic does not drive oil production, it is definitely the case that oil prices determine plastic production costs.
Recycling can absorb much of that, but medical plastics cannot be made through recycling today.
Re:September was the most anomalously hot month ever
by londons_explore on Thursday October 05, 2023 @05:35PM
(#37784584)
$1000/ton is $1/kg. Most medical plastic items are tens of grams - so 1 cent.
Considering the price of medical devices in the US, there is certainly room for a few extra cents.
Re:September was the most anomalously hot month ever
by spenczar5 on Friday October 06, 2023 @09:36AM
(#37790603)
You are taxing co2, not oil. A barrel of oil is about 400kg of carbon. That makes the price go up by at least $400 per barrel. It’s at about $80 right now. So the cost of materials for petroleum prodycts would go up by something like 6x.
In the US, this cost will get absorbed. But if you are in subsaharan Africa, 6x more expensive IV tubes and syringes is extremely consequential.
Plastic production is an insanely small part of oil and gas usage, 4%. Anyone bringing up plastic as a reason to not stop using oil isn't being intellectually honest. We could literally decimate the oil industry and still produce way more oil than the plastic industry needs. It's just not a concern.