Emissary "Credit Cards" to Measure Your Environmental Impact

The Emissary card would look and act like a regular credit card ... but it would also be a smart card. It would track the rate at which a person pollutes. Users are allocated a certain number of "carbon credits", which are used up as he uses the card.

"As far as I understand, those people who have a high impact on the environment would use their credits quickly and suffer penalties for any further impact by paying more for goods and services that impact the environment," said Chaz Nandra, co-founding director at Design Stream. Source: News.com

As posited by the Emissary card concept, it sounds like it would simply be sort of a reminder of the responsibility each of us has toward the world. On the other hand, you could more simply go to a site such as Carbon Planet to reduce your carbon footprint. However, what really caught my eye in the News.com story was the statement that in a speech last month at the Audit Commission, U.K. Environment Secretary David Milliband posited a similar idea as an alternative to the greenhouse emissions tax. Each person would be given a certain number of carbon points to use each month, similar to the sort of rationing that went on in WWII.

While I understand the concept, I see some problems with this. This places the burden on John Q. Public, the ordinary consumer, and has no effect on corporations. Also, each person will receive the same number of credits, which can be sold back at the end of the month, if unused. I can see some sort of market building up where the rich simply buy as many credits as they need to maintain a profligate lifestyle.

If people really want to reduce carbon emissions, there needs to be a global effort which includes cooperation between nations ... and none of this, "it'll hurt the economy" stuff. What good is an economy when the world itself is dead or dying? (Yeah, maybe I shouldn't have watched Soylent Green with my wife).

Tags: Technology, Environment, Ecology, Smart Card