We all know now that the House of Representatives barely passed a global warming remediation bill last week, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. I should be rejoicing, for compared to the Bush Administration, the Obama White House has been remarkably progressive about renewable energy and becoming a responsible partner to check global warming. Yet, I'm not, and equally concerned about this legislation are the Nature Conservancy and Friends of the Earth. Of course, many Republicans are apoplectic, but that's expected.
There are various HuffPos commenting on this victory for President Obama, and I can cite two in particular that provided useful information: The Simple Arithmetic of Global Warming and Cap and Trade Explained. These two postings supported the legislation. I would like to provide a different look for the sake of longer term implications.
There are two basic approaches to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Cap and trade is the version today popular with politicians. The second is the carbon tax. Anyone with any knowledge of this subject will tell you that the carbon tax is more sensible than cap and trade. So why is cap and trade being foisted on the public?
This is simply because the carbon tax sounds like a tax. Republicans are inherently opposed to more taxes. As both houses of Congress are so dominantly Democrat, with a Democrat in the White House, what is, then, the big deal, for Democrats who are not totally allergic to taxes?
Furthermore, this is oh so ironic because people don't directly pay this tax. Companies that burn coal to generate electricity or refine crude oil into gasoline are so burdened. Then, of course, because these fuel suppliers need to make a profit, they add this charge to your electricity and gasoline bill. This then becomes an indirect tax to the masses.
But there should be general acceptance by the people if much of this extra charge is then credited to your account when you file your taxes. Yes, of course, the cost of everything then also goes up, but all polls show that the American public is supportive of the Renewable Electricity Standard.
But how much more would we be willing to pay? A Financial Times/Harris Poll of early last year showed that both Europeans and Americans do not want to pay any more for renewable electricity and clean gasoline substitutes. Others say that the scare of $147/barrel oil a year ago has changed the attitude of most of us. But how much will electricity and gasoline increase in cost if a meaningful carbon credit (let's not call it a tax) is instituted?
A 5 cents/pound carbon dioxide credit on petroleum would translate to $1/gallon more at the pump, or the $3/gallon some of you currently pay would go up to $4/gallon, exactly where we were in July of last year when oil prices peaked. Coal fired electricity would increase by about 10 cents/kWh. As the current price is about 11 cents/kWh, that would almost double the price to 21 cents/kWh. In comparison, my HuffPo of earlier this year reported that the California Public Utilities Commission indicated that a coal fired power plant with carbon capture would be expected to generate electricity at 17 cents/kWh. Rightfully, these facilities should not pay this assessment. In that same article Joseph Romm seems to feel that nuclear power should not be a factor, for the cost of electricity from NEW nuclear facilities would fall in the 25 cents to 30 cents/kWh range.
Would a 5 cents/pound carbon dioxide credit make a sufficient difference to ameliorate global warming? Well, the March issue of Scientific American indicated that, while wind and geothermal power could be produced for 7 cents/kWh, solar thermal electricity still costs more than 20 cents/kWh and solar photovoltaics are at almost triple that rate. However, there is reasonable hope that those next generation thin film PV systems will be much cheaper.
Thus, the swift enactment of a 5 cents/pound carbon dioxide credit would be very effective, indeed. But is there any way to just toss away the term carbon tax and replace it with the carbon dioxide credit program, where 100% of the credit collected by the government would be returned to the taxpayer? Well, the Senate has not yet acted. Plus, the general reaction to the House measure is that this legislation is seriously flawed because of cap and trade. Unfortunately, the Senate version will be cap and trade, so, unless there can be a dramatic readjustment, I'm afraid our politically compromised global climate warming remediation package will become the centerpiece for the World to embrace when the successor to the Kyoto Protocol is discussed this coming December in Copenhagen. That very much concerns me.
We are fighting in Afghanistan. No one knows why. We have no business in Afghanistan. England lost their war there. So did Russia. So will we. EVERY Afghan male adult is armed with a wicked knife and an AK-47 or better and they will fight although they have nothing of value to fight for. We have the greatest country in the world yet our own people are trying to make us defenseless and revert women to the status of property with no freedom of choice. That's just wrong. If you can't trust your own citizens, who CAN you trust? A politician? There is still one generation alive who won't tolerate it but we are dying off.
People who cannot or choose not to distinguish right from wrong must take it upon themselves to learn or risk being killed by some man or woman who does and chooses to protect themselves, their family or property. Self defense is the absolute right and responsibility of every citizen. The government has no duty to protect you as an individual.
Article 5.
They are your kids. You chose to have them so you have the sole responsibility of feeding and clothing them. You must accept responsibility for their actions until they leave home and you must teach them right from wrong. "Time outs" aren't as effective as a strap across the butt. If you bring your brats to my house they had better stand still and be as quiet and attentive as my dog is when we come to visit you. He will sit quietly at my side until we leave. I expect your kids to be as well behaved as my dog.
News shall be news and not opinion, advertising shall be true and not misleading, businesses and corporations shall be morally and ethically responsible for their products and actions. The fact that consumers are stupid and devoid of the intelligence they need to make an informed choice shall be considered for their protection, not to their disadvantage.
(a) Products which promise or hint at a future payoff which is beyond the pale of current science are scams. This includes but is not limited to astrology, 'psychic readings' and organized religion. If you promise someone an afterlife through an invisible entity you must prove it exists.
(b) This is no way restricts any individual from any belief system they choose but confirms that ones beliefs are personal, confidential and private and requires everyone to mind their own business and not attempt to foist their views on anyone else. My church doesn't ask you to suspend reality while you are inside or check your gun at the door. I'm wearing mine and I want you to wear yours. Some of the worst things happen on Sunday morning because no one expects them. Why people believe God is listening to them at all on Sunday astounds me. Sunday is HIS day of rest.
Regards the Constitution of The United States with Preamble and Amendments. This is the document upon which our society is based. These are the laws by which we live, and no other. The definitions it includes are clear and do not vary from one political administration to another. All elected officials are sworn to protect this document as written and failure to do so to the best of one's knowledge and ability is treason, a hanging offense.
Article 2.
All contracts of any kind including retail sales must be equally fair and beneficial to all parties concerned. Any product offered must be as-stated and sufficient to accomplish the task for which it is sold for as long as it is intended to last. Consumables of any sort must actually be consumable as packaged and may not present a known health risk.
I shall once again suggest that being a public official should be akin to jury duty. It should be difficult and unpleasant and 'elections' ought to be synonymous with being drafted for service. People should do the best they can for two or four years and be anxious to get home. Until that happens, only rich gadabouts will hold the highest offices in the land with a few notable exceptions.
I have some ideas. I call them my Manifesto to America and it will always be a work in progress because there is no limit to the changes that ought to be made but never will. In the interim, I will keep it short.
(cont'd)
I'm coming to a conclusion that democracy as currently practiced is sufficiently flawed that we need a form of government that can actually work into the future. A benevolent dictatorship comes to mind, but that could be even more dangerous. Like you both, I'm troubled and frustrated.
We're not about to change our form of government (and shouldn't) so the place to put our efforts is improving what we have. We need serious campaign finance reform to reduce the power of well-funded lobbies.
This Congress doesn't have the votes for a more forthright carbon tax. So we start where we are.
As Ceres said in a recent statement, members of Congress can bargain with each other but they can't bargain with Mother Nature. We will learn the easy way or the hard way, but we will learn.
Throughout history we have always managed to kill enough of our fellow humans to maintain some sort of balance. That went away about 1800 when the population hit one billion. Two world wars and several pandemics have not stemmed the tide and we now have almost seven billion people on a four-billion-person world. Eight billion by 2012. The number is growing...exponentially...while the available resources are decreasing.
We are running out of food, fresh water, oil, arable land, icecaps (fish, meat, grain) ..everything but people. We aren't running out of people. But we will, right after we run out of the resources required to continue reproducing at this rate; and it won't be a slow process. It will be a sudden major extinction event and it may well coincide with the next solar max.
Watch it happen in real-time. http://www.worldometers.info/
The government should focus on subsidizing green energy sources to increase the supply of green energy. One the supply of green energy is copious they can tax carbon into nonexistance.
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