I think that as well-informed global citizens we need to take seriously this idea based on externalities and in the vein of true cost economics "The issue of outsize oil profits could be looked at in another way. The environmental group Friends of the Earth (FoE) argues that such large profits are only possible because Shell and other oil companies shift the burden of pollution and climate change that is an inevitable consequence of their business on to the rest of society.
Take the problem of gas flaring - the burning off of gas that comes up with the oil. According to FoE, gas flaring in Nigeria produces more greenhouse gas emissions than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined and is a major source of pollutants.
'If Shell had to pay for the damage being caused by global warming, these figures would not look so good. Shell should seek future profitability in clean and sustainable energy - not the fossil fuels that now endanger our planet,' said FoE."
The big argument against a windfall tax of oil would be whether government were the best people to [determine how to] spend it.
Guardian Unlimited | Economic dispatch | Shelling out:
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