Peg the dollar to units of energy? (paying, profit, dollars)

[sterlinggirl]

A lot of people would love to go back to the gold standard, but history has shown us that there are some problems with that approach. (cornering the market, etc.)

A while ago, another poster on CD mentioned pegging the dollar to units of energy, and the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. It would promote energy efficiency and alternative fuels, and the price of coal would skyrocket. Since we export so much coal to China, it would likely fix the trade deficit as well.

I look forward to hearing everybody's thoughts.

[GregW]

I do not even want to mine the stuff let alone burn it.

[sterlinggirl]

Originally Posted by GregW

I do not even want to mine the stuff let alone burn it.

Pegging the dollar to energy would actually help to decrease the amount of coal burned because coal prices would rise in relation to oil.

These two factors would encourage alternative forms of energy, such as burning biomass, to be more profitable, and coal fired electricity to be less profitable.

Countries like China that don't care how much they pollute, would wind up paying a lot more for their power, and countries using renewable energy would be rewarded.

It would also help to make sure that price fixing by big oil isn't able to destroy the renewable energy market like it did back in the 70s. If you're guaranteed a certain number of dollars per Watt or BTU, its a lot safer bet to open up those alternative energy sources, and they wouldn't need ridiculous subsidies like ethanol does.