By Stephen Heins

Both, a carbon tax and cap and trade, have yet to provide a single good example of working. In fact, the EU ETS has been an abject failure since its inception in 1997 and its implementation in 2009.

Also, CA's trading scheme is just another hidden tax that gets rolled into CA's general revenues or state subsidies; and, RGGI has just increased the cost of electricity without providing any real market signals, plus, it makes New England less competitive than other regions of the U.S.

As for a carbon tax, there are so many questions. Here are some of them:

1. Who is the controlling political body?
2. Who writes the rules?
3. Who determines the price point?
4. What qualifies for the tax?
5. Who decides the definition of "renewables?
6. Where is the mechanism for scientifically measuring and verifying emissions throughout the entire supply chain?
7. Who collects the money?
8. Where does the money go after it is collected?

Then, there is the political science in the noisy world of over 200 nations without a legitimate ruling body, just think of the corruption of the United Nations or World Health Organization or totalitarian rulers and to a lesser extent democracies or parliaments. Then, there is the problem of Carbon free-ridership.

Finally, the actual implementation of technology of all things energy and its integration into the global environment is unsettled and uncertain, especially as 1/3 of the globe still lives in relative energy poverty.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 08:32 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
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