Cap and Trade

What are the true costs of cap and trade legislation? The Heartland Institute investigates.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• global
• warming
• cap
• and
• trade
• heartland
• institute

[usactionnewsdotcom]

Legislators that are pushing cap and trade, also known as the American Power Act, should be run out of office, tarred and feathered and imprisoned for fraud. Mr. Al, sex crazed poodle, Gore should be first in line.

[nevermindedness]

@nevermindedness Hansen continued: Cap-and-trade with offsets, in contrast, is astoundingly ineffective. Global emissions rose rapidly in response to the Kyoto Protocol, as expected, because fossil fuels remained the cheapest energy. Cap-and-trade is an inefficient compromise, paying off numerous special interests. It must be replaced with an honest approach, raising the price of carbon emissions, and leaving the dirtiest fossil fuels in the ground.

[nevermindedness]

@nevermindedness Hansen continued: Fee-and-dividend can begin with the countries now considering cap-and-trade. Other countries will either agree to a carbon fee or have duties placed on their products that are made with fossil fuels. As the carbon price rises, most coal, tar sands and oil shale will be left in the ground. The market place will determine the roles of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and nuclear power in our clean energy future.

[nevermindedness]

@nevermindedness Hansen: Governments must place a uniform rising price on carbon, collected at the fossil fuel source -- the mine or port of entry. The fee should be given to the public in toto, as a uniform dividend, payroll tax deduction, or both. Such a tax is progressive -- the dividend exceeds added energy costs for 60 percent of the public. Fee-and-dividend stimulates the economy, providing the public the means to adjust lifestyles and energy infrastructure.

[nevermindedness]

@nevermindedness From Hansen: Is it feasible to phase out coal and avoid use of unconventional fossil fuels? Yes, but only if governments face up to the truth: as long as fossil fuels are the cheapest energy, their use will continue and even increase on a global basis. Fossil fuels are cheapest because they are not made to pay for their effects on human health, the environment, and future climate.

[nevermindedness]

@drlax15m That's an excellent point. It is possible that peak oil could exact a de facto carbon tax all on its own, and provide plenty of incentive to make the change to alternative fuels. However, that would not affect the price of coal (the worst polluter) nearly as much. Jim Hansen described a fee/dividend method for increasing the price of coal to pay for its environmental pollution.

[drlax15m]

@nevermindedness very good, if peak oil estimates are accurate though, then we don't need the government to force the market to change over and destroy the economy, it will progress on its own, we can't even drill our own domestic resources which would also help alleviate giving wealth to unfriendly countries, i've seen much better videos that do deal with the flaws of "cap and trade" as a solution, which is not

[nevermindedness]

@drlax15m In addition, the western world shells out hundreds of billions of dollars annually to OPEC countries. Many of the OPEC countries are not really friendly to the West; it is possible that terrorist organizations could be funded by oil money. It is really not in our best interest to strengthen them as we weaken economically.

[nevermindedness]

@drlax15m The video makes statements about the cost of cap and trade, but provide no references for these statements. There is a wide variety of predictions as to the effect of cap and trade. The fact is, nobody knows who is right. They also did not mention that the era of cheap oil is over. The IEA has estimated the petroleum decline rate to be 6.7%. Their study suggests peak oil by 2020, meaning the price of oil will skyrocket as demand rises and supply rapidly declines.

[nevermindedness]

@nevermindedness I should mention that the percentages I gave does not include cloud cover. However, different types of clouds have different radiative effects. Low cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds reflect incoming insolation for a cooling effect. But high cirrus and stratus clouds allow ultraviolet radiation to pass through, but absorb out going infrared radiation. So the effect of clouds is much more difficult to determine.