Green taxes

Many serious threats to humanity's future (from climate change and ozone depletion to
air pollution and toxic contamination) arise largely from the economy's failure to value
and account for environmental damage. Because those causing the harm do not pay the
full costs, unsuspecting portions of society end up bearing them (often in unanticipated
ways). People in the United States, for example, annually incur tens of billions of dollars
in damages from unhealthy levels of air pollution, but car drivers pay nothing at the gas
pump for their part in this assault. Similarly, if farmers pay nothing for using nearby
waterways to carry off pesticide residues, they will use more of these chemicals than
society would want, and rural people will pay the price in contaminated drinking water.
Taxation is an efficient way to correct this shortcoming, and a powerful instrument for
steering economies toward better environmental health. By taxing products and
activities that pollute, deplete, or otherwise degrade natural systems, governments can
ensure that environmental costs are taken into account in private decisions (whether to
commute by car or bicycle, for example, or to generate electricity from coal or sunlight).
If income or other taxes are reduced to compensate, leaving the total tax burden the
same, both the economy and the environment can benefit.
Opinion polls show that a good share of the public thinks more should be spent on
protecting the environment, but most people abhor the idea of higher taxes. By shiftin g
the tax base away from income and toward environmentally damaging activities,
governments can reflect new priorities without increasing taxes overall.
So far, most governments trying to correct the market's failures have turned to
regulations, dictating specifically what measures must be taken to meet environmental
goals. This approach has improved the environment in many cases, and is especially
important where there is little room for error, such as in disposing of high -level
radioactive waste or safeguarding an endangered species. Taxes would be a complement
to regulations, not a substitute.
Environmental taxes are appealing because they can help meet many goals efficiently.
Each individual producer or consumer decides how to adjust to the higher costs. A tax
on air emissions, for instance, would lead some factories to add pollution controls,
others to change their production processes, and still others to redesign products so as
to generate less waste. In contrast to regulations, environmental taxes preserve the
strengths of the market. Indeed, they are what economists call corrective taxes: they
actually improve the functioning of the market by adjusting prices to better reflect an
activity's true cost.
In a minor form, environmental or so-called green taxes already exist in many countries.
A survey by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development turned up
more than 50 environmental charges among 14 of its members, including levies on air
and water pollution, waste, and noise, as well as various product charges, such as fees

on fertilizers and batteries. In most cases, however, these tariffs have been set too low
to motivate major changes in behavior, and have been used instead to raise a modest
amount of revenue for an environmental program or other specific purpose. Norway's
charge on fertilizers and pesticides, for instance, raises funds for programs in
sustainable agriculture (certainly a worthy cause) but is too low to reduce greatly the
amount of chemicals farmers use in the short term.
There are, however, some notable exceptions. In the United Kingdom, a higher tax on
leaded gasoline increased the market share of unleaded petrol from 4 percent in April
1989 to 30 percent in March 1990. And in late 1989, the U.S. Congress passed a tax on
the sale of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in order, to hasten their
phaseout, which the nation has agreed to do by the end of the decade, and to capture
the expected windfall profits as the chemicals' prices rise. The most widely used CFCs
are initially being taxed at $3.02 per kilogram ($ 1.37 per pound), roughly twice the
current price; the tax will rise to $6.83 per kilogram by 1995 and to $10.80 per kilogram
by 1999. During the first five years, this is expected to generate $4.3 billion, which
multiple effects (a carbon tax for example, would lower both carbon and sulfur dioxide
emissions by discouraging fossil fuel consumption) and because the taxed activities will
decline even before taxes are fully in place, revenues shown in the table cannot be
neatly totaled. But it seems likely that the eight levies listed here could raise on the
order of $ I30 billion per year, allowing personal income taxes to be reduced about 30
percent.
A team of researchers at the Umwelt und Prognose Institut (Environmental Assessment
Institute) in Heidelberg proposed a varied set of taxes for the former West Germany that
would have collectively raised more than 210 billion deutsche marks ($ 136 billion). The
researchers analyzed more than 30 possible "eco taxes," and determined tax levels that
would markedly shift consumption patterns for each item. In some cases, a doubling or
tripling of prices was needed to cut consumption substantially. Halving pesticide use, for
example, would require a tax on the order of 200 percent of current pesticide prices.

Selecciona la opcin correcta.

La valoracin y el registro incorrecto de los daos al medio ambiente
afecta por igual a los distintos sectores de la sociedad.
hace surgir serias amenazas en relacin al futuro de la vida humana.
provoca que todos los sectores de la sociedad paguen los costos.
Los gobiernos pueden influir en la toma de decisiones de los ciudadanos con respecto al
medio ambiente a travs de

gravar actividades y productos que contaminan y acaban con los recursos naturales.
la utilizacin de sus economas como un poderoso instrumento para corregir las
deficiencias.
la utilizacin, por ejemplo, de la luz solar en vez de carbn para generar electricidad.
Las encuestas de opinin muestran que
la gente pagara con gusto ms impuestos para proteger el medio ambiente.
la gente piensa que debe gastarse ms para proteger el medio ambiente.
una minora piensa que no deben aumentarse los impuestos para proteger el medio
ambiente.
Muchos gobiernos consideran que
que la proteccin del medio ambiente debe estar regulada.
los impuestos ecolgicos pueden sustituir las leyes actuales.
los fracasos del mercado econmico han llevado a leyes ms estrictas.
Los impuestos ecolgicos
impondrn cambios en todos los procesos de produccin.
regularn las fuerzas del mercado.
son considerados como impuestos correctivos.
La Organizacin para el Desarrollo y la Cooperacin Econmica public un estudio en el
que informa que
cada uno de sus 14 miembros ha establecido ms de 50 impuestos "verdes".
14 de sus miembros han establecido ms de 50 impuestos ecolgicos.
los 50 impuestos ecolgicos que existen en muchos pases se han establecido en tre
14 de sus miembros.
El ejemplo de Noruega muestra que el impuesto sobre fertilizantes y pesticidas que
recoge este pas
se utiliza para programas de agricultura sostenible.

ha reducido la cantidad de substancias qumicas utilizadas.

es muy alto y se dedica a una causa encomiable.
En los Estados Unidos en 1989
cloroflorocarbonos se aument

el

impuesto

aplicado

la

venta

de

los

aproximadamente al doble de su precio.

un poco ms de cuatro veces en relacin a su precio.
aproximadamente siete veces en relacin a su precio.
Un grupo de investigadores del Instituto de Evaluacin Medioambiental de Heidelberg
propuso que el aumento a los impuestos fuera sobre los diferentes artculos
seleccionados.
se ha propuesto incrementar los impuestos de la ex Alemania Oriental en 136
billones de dlares.
propuso impuestos que a la larga modificaran los patrones de consumo de la ex
Alemania Oriental.
En relacin al consumo de pesticidas, el artculo dice que
fue necesario triplicar los precios para reducir a la mitad el uso de stos.
se requerira el aumento del impuesto en 200% para reducir a la mitad el uso de
stos.
es necesario duplicar o triplicar su precio para eliminar su utilizacin.

Ethical issues in surrogate motherhood

The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes the current interest in the reproductive
alternative
known
as
surrogate
motherhood.
Couples unable to have children through other means may seek surrogacy arrangements
as a way of fulfilling their strong and understandable desire to become parents.
Surrogacy arrangements, however, are subject to abuse, and surrogating parenting
raises specific concerns because of its potential for affecting the well-being of children
and their families.
The surrogacy agreement
A surrogate mother may be _____1_____ as a woman who carries a _____2_____ for
another woman. In the most common arrangement to date, a married _____3_____ in which the
husband is fertile but the wife is unable to carry a pregnancy, enter into a _____4_____ arranged
contract with a fertile woman. This fertile woman (the _____5_____ mother) agrees to be artificially
inseminated with the sperm of the ____6_____ husband. Alternatively, the surrogate mother may be
impregnated with an embryo _____7_______ by the wife's or another woman's ovum. In either case,
the surrogate mother_____8______ the pregnancy until delivery, and then, per the
contract, ______9______ no parental rights or responsibilities, and relinquishes the infant to the
couple who initiated the _____10______ . These reproductive arrangements enable one
woman _____11______ a child for another, thus separating genetic, gestational, and rearing
parentage.
Information
on
the
prevalence
and
epidemiology
of
surrogate_____12_____ arrangements in the United States is incomplete, but the number of children
born from such contractual _____13_____ appears to be quite low.
The US Congress Office of Technology Assessment ______14______ that by the
beginning of 1988, _____15_____ 600 babies had been born through surrogate mother
arrangements.
Although
the _____16_______ numbers
are
low,
surrogate
motherhood _____17_____medical,
psychological,
ethical,
and ______18_____ questions
involving
procreative
privacy
and
the ______19______ of parenting and family life. Three _____20_____ have emerged
as the basis for judging the ______21_____ of surrogate mothering relationships:
(1) reproductive ____22______ and the right of parents to procreate and rear a child,
(2) the _____23______ surrogate mother's ability to provide informed consent, and
(3) the best interests of all involved.
The desire to have and rear a child who is genetically _______24______ to at least one
parent may make surrogacy a more attractive _______25______ than adoption for
some couples. On the other hand, _____26______ genetic relatedness as essential to
parenting______27______ the importance of the psychological and social bonds that
characterize_____28______ families, however created. Every child is entitled to
a _____29______nurturing home. Confusion or ambiguity about who is the mother,
father, _____30_____ or rearing parent may be a _____31_____ for children resulting
from surrogate arrangements. Potential problems surrounding custody of the child

and ______32______ of parenting

adoption and foster care practices.

are

similar

to _____33______ encountered in

Selecciona la opcin correcta. Cuando termines, haz clic en el botnTerminar Examen.

1.
A.

designed

B.

defined

C.

imagined

A.

pregnancy

B.

disorder

C.

condition

A.

partner

B.

person

C.

couple

A.

nicely

B.

sufficiently

C.

privately

A.

ideal

B.

immature

C.

surrogate

A.

strong

B.

fertile

C.

barren

A.

aborted

B.

produced

C.

lost

A.

carries

B.

helps

C.

favors

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.
A.

conceals

B.

assumes

C.

requires

A.

contract

B.

business

C.

deposit

A.

to bear

B.

to change

C.

to hold

A.

childhood

B.

motherhood

C.

relative

A.

arrangements

B.

outlines

C.

investments

A.

decided

B.

knew

C.

estimated

A.

definitely

B.

ultimately

C.

approximately

A.

different

B.

odd

C.

total

A.

raises

B.

sanctions

C.

classifies

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

A.

financial

B.

irrational

C.

legal

A.

obligation

B.

necessity

C.

nature

A.

complications

B.

principles

C.

categories

A.

acceptability

B.

improbability

C.

reality

A.

concern

B.

freedom

C.

maturity

A.

real

B.

available

C.

potential

A.

near

B.

friendly

C.

related

A.

issue

B.

option

C.

decision

A.

viewing

B.

rejecting

C.

lacking

A.

underestimates

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

B.

estimates

C.

rejects

A.

loving

B.

distinct

C.

visionary

A.

ordered

B.

permanent

C.

clean

A.

unrelated

B.

genetic

C.

creative

A.

situation

B.

problem

C.

present

A.

probability

B.

instability

C.

stability

A.

parents

B.

children

C.

issues

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.