The Impact Xat: A New Approach to Charging for Growth

• Published in: The University of Memphis law review Vol. 43; no. 1; p. 35
• Main Author: Boudreaux, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Memphis University of Memphis 01.10.2012
• Subjects: Bathrooms; Climate change; Cost control; Decision making; Electric currents; Fees & charges; Fluorescent lighting; Impact fees; Light; Population; Suburban areas; Technological change; Trees; United States > US
• ISSN: 1080-8582

[...]a household that switches to fluorescent bulbs saves energy; moreover, although the fluorescent bulbs cost more initially, they last much longer, making them cost-efficient in the long run.3 Adhering to the environmentalist policy of requiring "best technology" for the pursuit of harmful activities - a concept at the heart of the U.S. Clean Water Act4 and pollution rules for automobiles,5 for example - mainstream environmentalists have long advocated for laws to ban new incandescent bulbs for household use.6 In the environmentally conscious European Union, the sale of all new incandescents will be barred by late 2012.7 The saving of energy, which means burning less climate-warming fossil fuels for electricity, is at heart of the rule. Charging users of land a fee to compensate for the external costs of their land usage is, in contrast to many current government regulations, fully justifiable under modern market economic theory. [...]unlike the all-too-common instances of governments making regulatory decisions about land on a case-by-case basis, a xat system would be grounded on a proven economic showing of externalities and a showing that the fee is proportional to the harm.