Posted by
Aaron McLucas on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 11:04:55 AM
This article from the
Wall Street Journal once again explains why cap and trade programs don't work. One telling line in the article shows us how well President Bush's so called 'do-nothing-attitide' towards global warming has worked.
The Bush Administration has pursued one option, which combines voluntary measures with subsidies for "clean" alternatives. Since 2001 under this approach, U.S. net carbon emissions have fallen by 3% – that is, by more than all but four countries in cap-and-trade-bound Europe.
When American business is 'asked' to do it, amazing things can happen. When they are not force-fed regulations, american small business will take the lead. But that is not what McCain is proposing.
Then there's the question of whether any of this will even reduce greenhouse gasses. The McCain plan would allow businesses unlimited use of domestic and international offsets to comply with the carbon cap. So a chemical manufacturer, say, would pay an industry not covered by the program – most notably, agriculture – to reduce its emissions. Or it could pay a coal plant in China for plucking low-hanging efficiency fruit, like installing smokestack scrubbers. In other words, U.S. consumers would be paying higher prices for energy in return for making Chinese industries more efficient and competitive. Europe is in the midst of that experience now under the Kyoto Protocol, and most of its reductions so far have been illusory.
Kyoto did not achieve what it wanted because of the cap and trade system. Why would McCains system be any different?