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Friday, June 26, 2009

"Nobody knows for sure how this is going to work."

Let's try a thought experiment. Imagine you had a friend that was a chemist. Imagine your friend invited you to their lab. Imagine, instead of merely observing, you, a layman, began mixing the chemicals in whatever haphazard manner you thought up at the time. Does that sound like a wise thing to do?

Now, imagine you're a lawmaker and you have a major hand in crafting sweeping legislation that will revolutionize the manner in which energy is produced and consumed. What if you crafted legislation without really knowing how it would come out? Welcome to the wonderful world of cap and trade. In response to the manner in which off sets will work in cap and trade, here's how Collin Peterson, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, characterized it.


Let's try a couple more hypothetical situations. Imagine you meet with your financial planner. They lay out your retirement plan, plan to save for your child's college fund, and other investments, insurance, and financial services. Then they say, "the truth is nobody knows for sure how this is going to work".

Imagine you go in for major surgery. Your surgeon explains the procedure, the recovery, and all the drugs that will need to be administered. Then, the surgeon says, "the truth is nobody knows for sure how this is going to work".

Would anyone wind up working with either of those folks? Yet, despite a startling and honest admission, the Democrats are ready to move forward on this bill even though, clearly, they don't know how it will work.

Peterson was referring to the system of offsets

a program that would allow covered sources to purchase measurable and verifiable emissions reducing credits from sources outside the cap

Off sets are crucial to cap and trade for a number of reasons. First, the whole point is to move our energy production from that which emits C02 and other pollutants to that which doesn't. Furthermore, in order to gain consensus, the Democrats have compromised to exclude many energy sources that might in fact emit carbon but were protected by powerful interests. For instance, Peterson's vote was only received after major concessions were granted to farmer's energy sources.

So, how will this system of offsets work in the new cap and trade bill? Well, as Congressman Peterson points out.

the truth is, nobody knows for sure how this is going to work

Doesn't that just fill you will confidence about how well cap and trade will serve its intended purpose? After all, the road is littered with bills that wound up doing things no one intended. Sarbanes Oxley is a great example. Going back further, Smoot Hawley was an even better example. Far too often, Congress passes a bill that winds up having all sorts of unintended consequences. Here, we know this will happen because Peterson says as much.


Gail said...

Silly, silly...they know how it's going to work, they just don't want to tell you. It will work the way all oligarchies work. The people who give the most benefits to the people allocating the credits will get the most offsets.

Already, you can expect the UAW/GM to get lots and lots of carbon offsets. If you are a Republican, drive a foreign car or are not on welfare, you get zero offsets and you get to pay the higher tax.

This stuff about not knowing how it works is so they can implement it on a completely discretionary basis of favoritism, then say, it is confusing and they aren't sure how it's being done. The lickspittle media will commiserate with what a tough job it is to figure it all out and extend their sympathy, in exchange, of course, for the dollar value of their carbon offsets.

It is all pre-scripted. They know how it's going to work and who will beneift. The appearance of incompetent is really the disguise here for complete and utter corruption.

Best regards,
Gail S

Check my blog to help draft a Conservatative Action Plan:

Anonymous said...

I agree with Gail for the most part, but I would take it a step further: They know all that they need to know. The government is in debt to the tune of $12 trillion and only massive tax increases can stave off our pending financial collapse.

That's what cap and trade is -- a huge tax on wealth instead of income. (Other than a massive ponzi scheme to make their friends and supporters uber rich, and transfer wealth from producers to non-producers.)

The democrats are all about "justice." In their minds, justice equals taking from earners and giving to the "poor," i.e. democrat voters and the president's base of support.

Cap and trade is the biggest increase to the welfare state in the nation's history. But it doesn't stop with the "poor." It fills the coffers of General Electric and all of Al Gore's various carbon credit scams.

Without the C&T energy tax increase, congress is faced with only two choices: accept the collapse of the dollar or reduce non-discretionary spending (welfare).