What will cap and trade do, well that's the big question isn't it, for starters lets talk about the overall goal of the bill to reduce Co2 output to the point where we make an impact on "Global Warming" The EPA estimates that is ALL the programs work as promised and if EVERY nation adopts this policy this bill will impact global temps by approx. .02 degree's in 100 years. So given the fact that China and India do not plan to be a part of this plan, the overall mission of the bill is completely shot down. So lets look at costs. There are many examples of energy costs and how they effect jobs, but the best way to look at this is to look at where it has been tried, Europe, and Ca.....
Europe has already hit a few bumps with its program. There's the Dutch silicon carbide maker that calls itself the greenest such plant in the world, but now can't afford to run full-time; the French cement workers who fear they're going to lose jobs to Morocco, which doesn't have to meet the European guidelines; and the German homeowners who pay 25 percent more for electricity than they did before -- even as their utility companies earn record profits.
In some ways, Europe's program has been a success. It covers 45 percent of the continent's emissions, 10,000 companies and 27 European Union countries. It has built registries that list carbon dioxide emissions for every major plant.
In other ways, the approach has been a bureaucratic morass with a host of unexpected and costly side effects and a much smaller effect on carbon emissions than planned. And many companies complain that it is unfair.
Consider the plight of Kollo Holding's factory in the Netherlands, which makes silicon carbide, a material used as an industrial abrasive and lining for high-temperature furnaces and kilns. Its managers like to think of their plant as an ecological standout: They use waste gases to generate energy and have installed the latest pollution-control equipment.
But Europe's program has driven electricity prices so high that the facility routinely shuts down for part of the day to save money on power. Although demand for its products is strong, the plant has laid off 40 of its 130 employees and trimmed production. Two customers have turned to cheaper imports from China, which is not covered by Europe's costly regulations.
Europe's Problems Color U.S. Plans to Curb Carbon Gases - washingtonpost.com
That from the Washington Post, hardly a bastion of Republican thinking...
Emissions did fall 3% in 2008, but experts on both sides agree that that was largely due to the recession, which has reduced industrial output and energy usage.
Meanwhile, energy prices for end users have risen sharply. From 2004 to 2007, household energy costs rose by 16% on average in the 25 EU countries and industrial rates rose by 32%, according to the European Commission.
Those prices have meant windfalls for some companies. CEI's Ebell cites as an example how the German utilities used their influence to wrangle more allowances than the automakers.
"One utility immediately raised their rate 70%" after ETS was implemented, Ebell said. "But they had more credits than they needed to cover their emissions for that year, so they sold them to automakers. So the (utility's) shareholders got two windfalls: one from raising the rates and one from selling the excess credits."
Cap-and-trade fans argue that Congress' bill would avoid such situations. Besides, they argue, cap-and-trade is the only politically possible way to enact a carbon reduction plan, since Big Business supports it.
Europe's Cap-And-Trade Scheme A Cautionary Tale For The U.S. - Yahoo! News
According to official figures, around 12 percent of the working population of the European Union (EU) is unemployed. Eighteen million European citizens, 5 million of them under the age of twenty-five, are officially looking for work. Relevant research institutes around Europe inform us that the number of unemployed is continuing to rise. It is estimated that, over the next two years, at least another half million people will join the ranks of the unemployed.
European unemployment: myths and realities | Challenge | Find Articles at BNET
Has anyone noticed recently Ca. has started to issue IOU's because they are in such bad financial shape and this is the model we wish to follow for the entire nation. I think the person that said it best about the cost of cap and trade was out own president....
"Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers."
Senator Barack Obama
Speaking on his energy policies
San Francisco Chronicle
January 17, 2008
Need I say more.. to the Administration a tax is not a tax unless you call it one. but tell that to the people who have to pay more for basically everything.
Europe has already hit a few bumps with its program. There's the Dutch silicon carbide maker that calls itself the greenest such plant in the world, but now can't afford to run full-time; the French cement workers who fear they're going to lose jobs to Morocco, which doesn't have to meet the European guidelines; and the German homeowners who pay 25 percent more for electricity than they did before -- even as their utility companies earn record profits.
In some ways, Europe's program has been a success. It covers 45 percent of the continent's emissions, 10,000 companies and 27 European Union countries. It has built registries that list carbon dioxide emissions for every major plant.
In other ways, the approach has been a bureaucratic morass with a host of unexpected and costly side effects and a much smaller effect on carbon emissions than planned. And many companies complain that it is unfair.
Consider the plight of Kollo Holding's factory in the Netherlands, which makes silicon carbide, a material used as an industrial abrasive and lining for high-temperature furnaces and kilns. Its managers like to think of their plant as an ecological standout: They use waste gases to generate energy and have installed the latest pollution-control equipment.
But Europe's program has driven electricity prices so high that the facility routinely shuts down for part of the day to save money on power. Although demand for its products is strong, the plant has laid off 40 of its 130 employees and trimmed production. Two customers have turned to cheaper imports from China, which is not covered by Europe's costly regulations.
Europe's Problems Color U.S. Plans to Curb Carbon Gases - washingtonpost.com
That from the Washington Post, hardly a bastion of Republican thinking...
Emissions did fall 3% in 2008, but experts on both sides agree that that was largely due to the recession, which has reduced industrial output and energy usage.
Meanwhile, energy prices for end users have risen sharply. From 2004 to 2007, household energy costs rose by 16% on average in the 25 EU countries and industrial rates rose by 32%, according to the European Commission.
Those prices have meant windfalls for some companies. CEI's Ebell cites as an example how the German utilities used their influence to wrangle more allowances than the automakers.
"One utility immediately raised their rate 70%" after ETS was implemented, Ebell said. "But they had more credits than they needed to cover their emissions for that year, so they sold them to automakers. So the (utility's) shareholders got two windfalls: one from raising the rates and one from selling the excess credits."
Cap-and-trade fans argue that Congress' bill would avoid such situations. Besides, they argue, cap-and-trade is the only politically possible way to enact a carbon reduction plan, since Big Business supports it.
Europe's Cap-And-Trade Scheme A Cautionary Tale For The U.S. - Yahoo! News
According to official figures, around 12 percent of the working population of the European Union (EU) is unemployed. Eighteen million European citizens, 5 million of them under the age of twenty-five, are officially looking for work. Relevant research institutes around Europe inform us that the number of unemployed is continuing to rise. It is estimated that, over the next two years, at least another half million people will join the ranks of the unemployed.
European unemployment: myths and realities | Challenge | Find Articles at BNET
Has anyone noticed recently Ca. has started to issue IOU's because they are in such bad financial shape and this is the model we wish to follow for the entire nation. I think the person that said it best about the cost of cap and trade was out own president....
"Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers."
Senator Barack Obama
Speaking on his energy policies
San Francisco Chronicle
January 17, 2008
Need I say more.. to the Administration a tax is not a tax unless you call it one. but tell that to the people who have to pay more for basically everything.
