http://rustyware.blogspot.com/2009/05/modern-day-indulgences-cap-trade-scam.html

So, to recap… The government picks a number between 1 and a gazillion and then sells licenses to pollute that amount. These are then bid on and traded between polluters. As a consumer of energy, you are abused like a casino ATM spitting out winnings to a drunk. For reference, the Democrats estimate it to be about a $300 per year increase while the Republicans estimate it closer to $3500 per year. Clearly they have all this climate change down to a science and the numbers prove it, right Mr. Gore?

Of course, those who think this is such an outstanding policy are those with a vested interest in the whole scam. Never mind the fact that there is no conclusive science that the same CO2 that comes out of your mouth when you exhale damages the “environment” – ambiguously defined as the atmosphere around anyone interested in global warming…

http://www.newswithviews.com/Peterson/rosalind2.htm

Step back and take another realistic look at what you are all being asked to do and why. If you believe as Al Gore does that one of the “…keys to solving the climate crisis is finding ways to use the powerful force of market capitalism…” then there is little hope of making worldwide reductions in the pollution we all create and alleviating some of the stressors that may the cause of a rise in human health problems. Apparently reducing pollution and improving public health is not as important as selling these money market schemes and levying “carbon taxes” on Americans citizens.

Let us all ask the hard questions about these money market schemes. Make sure that the action you take today really reduces pollutants without causing other pollution problems. When you switch from incandescent light bulbs to the highly hazardous mercury laden fluorescent light bulbs you are just trading one problem for a huge toxic waste problem.

We have been almost at a standstill for over two decades in pollution reduction. It is time to ask the hard questions and really study the solutions that are now being presented to us that contain very few hard facts, no standards or regulations, and no penalties. Don’t be railroaded into market schemes that will not benefit us in the end or reduce the pollution that is negatively impacting the health of every American. Ask questions of those in office and those running for office. And then take action, voice your opinion, organize, write letters, and vote to stop these “cap and trade” congressional bills.

http://www.cosmicconservative.com/weblog/?p=4839

What does Cap and Trade really mean?

I like to think of myself as a well-informed citizen who keeps up on the issues of the day. But I am sometimes surprised by how ignorant I can be of very important issues. I get the feeling that I have been less than fully informed about Cap and Trade schemes, and I wonder how many other people really don’t understand what the system is and how it is supposed to work.

In theory the system is supposed to utilize market forces to drive to the most efficient means to achieve a desired goal. In the case of CO2 emissions the idea is that every business will have a “cap” of CO2 emissions they are allowed to generate, and that cap will be determined by the number of “coupons” they hold which allow a certain amount of CO2 to be emitted. If the business emits more than they hold coupons for, they receive hefty fines and potential criminal charges. That’s the “Cap” part of the system.

The “Trade” part of the system is where market forces are supposed to come into play. Basically the coupons are treated as negotiable items and can be freely traded between businesses. If one business is well below their cap, they can sell their unneeded coupons to a business that is over their cap. Since the fines and other penalties for being over the cap are so severe, this will generate a high demand for coupons, making them a profitable commodity for the sellers.
(snip)
It is hard for me to imagine the government running this scheme without interfering with it on a regular basis, pretty much negating any true market forces that would potentially create a desired result.

My guess is that the actual impact of this scheme will be a huge increase in energy costs, a minor increase in “green” power generation, and a near-certain negative impact on the economy which will extend and exacerbate any coming recession/depression.

If it were me I’d take every penny of the revenue from this and put it into a Manhattan Project style approach to make nuclear fusion economically viable.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121236237789236363.html?mod=opinion_main_review_and_outlooks

Cap and Trade: It’s all about money and power

…..Of course most of the money will go to human constituencies, especially those with the most political clout. In the Boxer plan, revenues are allocated down to the last dime over the next half-century. Thus $802 billion would go for “relief” for low-income taxpayers, to offset the higher cost of lighting homes or driving cars. Ms. Boxer will judge if you earn too much to qualify.

There’s also $190 billion to fund training for “green-collar jobs,” which are supposed to replace the jobs that will be lost in carbon-emitting industries. Another $288 billion would go to “wildlife adaptation,” whatever that means, and another $237 billion to the states for the same goal. Some $342 billion would be spent on international aid, $171 billion for mass transit, and untold billions for alternative energy and research – and we’re just starting.

Ms. Boxer would only auction about half of the carbon allowances; she reserves the rest for politically favored supplicants. These groups might be Indian tribes (big campaign donors!), or states rewarded for “taking the lead” on emissions reductions like Ms. Boxer’s California. Those lucky winners would be able to sell those allowances for cash. The Senator estimates that the value of the handouts totals $3.42 trillion. For those keeping track, that’s more than $6.7 trillion in revenue handouts so far.

The bill also tries to buy off businesses that might otherwise try to defeat the legislation. Thus carbon-heavy manufacturers like steel and cement will get $213 billion “to help them adjust,” while fossil-fuel utilities will get $307 billion in “transition assistance.” No less than $34 billion is headed to oil refiners. Given that all of these folks have powerful Senate friends, they will probably extract a larger ransom if cap and trade ever does become law.

Neil Stevens – thanks for the promotion!

… and anything but dismissing wind and ground-based solar as small-time projects that are of pretty much no value in the grand scheme of things is doing that. Large scale energy transportation and storage just aren’t good enough to rely on sources that don’t work 24/7, and there’s nothing out there with a realistic chance of changing that. And we’ve got to convince people of this, or we’re not going to get serious about nukes, and nukes are the only non-fossil fuel source that we can reasonably increase our use of significantly in the next twenty years.

Form Powerline comes this

“At The Examiner, David Freddoso adds a coda to the bizarre story of the cap-and-trade energy tax that passed the House yesterday. The bill that the House voted on doesn’t, strictly speaking, exist:

Texas Republican Reps. Joe Barton and Louie Gohmert have just asked the chair whether there exists a complete, updated copy of the Waxman-Markey carbon-cap bill.
“If a bill for which there is no copy were to actually pass this body,” Barton asked, “could the bill without a copy be sent to the Senate for its consideration?”

Through a series of parliamentary inquiries, the Republicans learned that the 300-plus page managers’ amendment, added to the bill last night in the House Rules Committee, has not even been been integrated with the official copy of the 1,090-page bill at the House Clerk’s desk, let alone in any other location. The two documents are side-by-side at the desk as the clerk reads through the instructions in the 300 page document for altering the 1,090 page document.

But they cannot be simply combined, because the amendment contains 300 pages of items like this: “Page 15, beginning line 8, strike paragraph (11)…” How many members of Congress do you suppose have gone through it all to see how it changes the bill?

I can answer that question: none. There hasn’t been time to do so. The manner in which the Democrats have run the House since taking control in 2007 has been disgraceful. ”

Just throught I’d throw that out there.