Cap and Trade (Repeat)
With Cap and Trade getting ready to dominate the political arena for a couple of weeks I thought it might be a good time to re-post an earlier entry regarding cap and trade (grammar errors and all—-I might fix a couple because it was bad!) In general everything on the post still holds- Dingell’s bill to create a carbon tax is the best of the bad solutions and cap and trade is a hidden regressive tax.
The idea of a cap and trade system will more than likely be in the news for the next week or so, therefore, let’s have a little cap and trade lesson and a legislative update on climate change.Lets start with the legislation. Numerous bills…….a lot……tons……even a new committee (no legislative abilities, but still a new committee). All of the legislation fits into just a couple of categories, and I believe only two. The two categories are those that will work and those that won’t. There is only one currently that works…….there should be two, but it will happen at some point……..it is the Dingell bill. The Dingell bill is a carbon tax.
What is that? Political Bear thinks a tax can solve a problem? Actually, yes, at least better than the other ideas. The Dingell bill makes the sacrifices obvious, so voters would really have to support solving (?*) climate change. The Dingell Bill has two problems: 1. It would ruin the economy, enough said. 2. He knows it won’t pass and he is just making a point.
The Second types of bills are the cap and trade bills. These bills would create a cap or ceiling on the amount of CO2 that a company can produce, and if they have extra they can sell it to other companies or if they need more emission credits they can buy them from others. The media calls this the market based solution to climate change. The media is wrong. Cap and Trade creates a “play market.” Randomly creating a commodity and then enforcing a cap is not a market. There are times that the system will look like a market, but if the government creates something does it ever just leave it be? (no). Every time the Government changes the cap and trade market it will further effect the users of the energy. Who will be more effected by changing prices………me? No- while I might not use as much energy as before when the prices increase, I have a job…………the elderly? yes-many elderly are on fixed incomes, and need climate control……the rich? no-their energy bills will be higher like the rest of us, but as a percentage of the income, it is nothing………the poor? Yes. They will be hurt badly.
So, why is the consensus to solve (?*) climate change with a cap and trade bill? I have no idea. A hidden regressive tax is not a good piece of legislation.
We can’t solve climate change. We can save lives by adapting, but the earths climate has changed again and again in our past, and it is naive to think that we can stop it. Oh, and humans do have an impact, but it is a fraction of a percent using pollution and atmospheric data.
Since the climate change debate will dominate the next couple weeks I will post a more detailed of the legislation that will actually be on the floor shortly!
