A large part of the carbon tax should be paid out as a dividend. Otherwise poor people can't afford to live anymore. Political acceptance is important for any climate policies.
This is why I have no hope for anything other than a technological solution to climate change. Anything else would require either a very large decrease in the standard of living in the developed world, contributed poverty in the developing world or both.
Replacing fossil fuels with renewables doesn't require a very large decrease in the standard of living. So we already have a technological solution for 80% or so of the problem. Steel, cement, and long distance flying seem to be tricky without releasing CO2, but we should probably only seriously worry about those once we're well on our way with the things that can be replaced without changing quality of life at all.
But that a) is only happening because technology lowers costs, changing the economics of renewables so that it makes short-term, self-interest sense to install them, and b) alone it still doesn't solve the problem.
Ring fencing is always pointless in the long run because the government isn’t stupid. For things they actually want to spend money on they’ll find a way. If there’s political will to spend money on something it’ll be funded, ring fencing or no.
In the short run ring fencing can provide a temporary boost in spending but in the long run all sources of funding are fungible.
Very true.
But still, in the current situation fencing might actually be a good thing: a boost in research in the right direction.
Also if temporary, it might be just enough to make the step needed, and it is anyhow better than nothing.