Indian businessman rhymes the case for a universal carbon tax

(Climate Home News, 24 Sep 2020) An Indian businessman made a poetic case for taxing carbon and ending coal burning on Thursday, at an online event as part of New York Climate Week.

Nadir Godrej, managing director of Godrej Industries, which produces soap and vegetable oils, surprised viewers by answering questions about India’s growth path in verse.

The engineer and poetry enthusiast rhymed his way through a detailed set of policies to drive emissions cuts and switch to clean energy.

“A uniform carbon tax / Would protect all our backs,” he scanned, adding that a price of $60 a tonne “would surely get reduction done”.

Then he turned his attention to coal, which generates more than 60% of India’s electricity and is one of the biggest causes of global heating.

“Right now coal still looks cheap/ But the environmental cost is steep/ Both climate change and air pollution/ Show that coal’s not the solution,” said Godrej.

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Climate Home News, 24 Sep 2020: Indian businessman rhymes the case for a universal carbon tax