‘Energy rations’ to cut pollution

Filling up the car at the petrol station could take a few seconds longer in future – to deduct points from your personal “greenhouse gas” ration card. Issuing every citizen with an electronic card to encourage them to reduce energy use is one of the most radical ideas for curbing reliance on fossil fuels, widely blamed for global warming.

But critics say a rationing system, linked to personal financial rewards and penalties for millions of people, could be a costly slide towards Big Brother-style surveillance.
“It is easy to dismiss the idea as too complex administratively, too Utopian or too much of a burden for citizens,” British Environment Secretary David Miliband said in a speech floating the idea of individual allowances.

“But … in the long term, there may be potential to make a system work,” he said.

Britain has come further than other nations, simply by airing the idea. Most other governments focus on education – advising people to instal energy-saving lightbulbs or turn down the thermostat in winter – or on taxes as a way to spur lifestyle changes to cut energy use.

And many experts doubt that voters would accept cards, and billion-dollar administrative costs, especially in countries such as the United States which is not part of the United Nations’ Kyoto Protocol on capping greenhouse gas emissions.

Gulf Daily News