Funny Money - Carbon Auction
Liberals have a history of trying to create substitutes for things of real value and then first cajoling and ultimately coercing, through onerous legislation, the great unwashed into buying their snake oil. The "cap and trade" ruse of carbon credits is just the latest example:
For sale: Northeastern states hold first US carbon auction aimed at curbing global warming
http://www.startribune.com/nation/29760 ... :_Yyc:aUUJ
Excerpt:
The program puts a price on carbon dioxide pollution, giving power plants a financial incentive to cut emissions.
Auction proceeds will go toward energy conservation and renewable energy programs in each of the 10 participating states: New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The program aims to hold carbon dioxide emissions steady through 2014 and then gradually reduce them; it is widely viewed as a model for future programs nationally and around the globe.
"It's historic," said Lance Pierce, climate program director of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The carbon markets have arrived in the United States. And carbon markets, if designed correctly, hold the promise for development of cleaner energy ... and reductions in global warming pollution that benefit consumers, businesses and the environment, as well."
A key phrase from the above is "if designed correctly" and another is "hold the promise". Call me old school but that is not much justification for using the energy market, of in this case the Northeastern United States, as a guinea pig for a feel good political experiment. This is especially so when we know of an alternative to reducing pollution which is much more effective but politically less appealing, namely fines and criminal prosecution.
Instead of using existing statutes and enforcement personnel, the left instead creates an entirely new bureaucratic mechanism and at the same time creates a market for these credits which in themselves have no discernible value and are not supported by any form of collateral. This cap program is just the latest in a series of funny money economics which brought us travesties such as food stamps. Rather than hurting a hungry families self-esteem by actually having that family pick up a care package of actual food, the government in its infinite wisdom decided upon issuing food stamps. These stamps were then, in many cases, sold at discount in order that the recipient could buy alcohol or other prohibited items. Leftists routinely wag their fingers at "Wall Street corruption" yet they continually create imaginary "currency" having no intrinsic value which is eventually used for speculation inspired by the same greed they so ardently oppose.
Such has been the case with the current mortgage crisis as the do-gooders have devalued mortgages from a hard-headed investment into a "hoped for" tool to set up poor people for failure by getting them into homes they cannot afford through NINJA (No Income, No Job, or Assets) mortgages.
Is it any wonder then that this program will inevitably fail as have funny money programs such as food stamps and NINJA mortgages have failed?
For sale: Northeastern states hold first US carbon auction aimed at curbing global warming
http://www.startribune.com/nation/29760 ... :_Yyc:aUUJ
Excerpt:
The program puts a price on carbon dioxide pollution, giving power plants a financial incentive to cut emissions.
Auction proceeds will go toward energy conservation and renewable energy programs in each of the 10 participating states: New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The program aims to hold carbon dioxide emissions steady through 2014 and then gradually reduce them; it is widely viewed as a model for future programs nationally and around the globe.
"It's historic," said Lance Pierce, climate program director of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The carbon markets have arrived in the United States. And carbon markets, if designed correctly, hold the promise for development of cleaner energy ... and reductions in global warming pollution that benefit consumers, businesses and the environment, as well."
A key phrase from the above is "if designed correctly" and another is "hold the promise". Call me old school but that is not much justification for using the energy market, of in this case the Northeastern United States, as a guinea pig for a feel good political experiment. This is especially so when we know of an alternative to reducing pollution which is much more effective but politically less appealing, namely fines and criminal prosecution.
Instead of using existing statutes and enforcement personnel, the left instead creates an entirely new bureaucratic mechanism and at the same time creates a market for these credits which in themselves have no discernible value and are not supported by any form of collateral. This cap program is just the latest in a series of funny money economics which brought us travesties such as food stamps. Rather than hurting a hungry families self-esteem by actually having that family pick up a care package of actual food, the government in its infinite wisdom decided upon issuing food stamps. These stamps were then, in many cases, sold at discount in order that the recipient could buy alcohol or other prohibited items. Leftists routinely wag their fingers at "Wall Street corruption" yet they continually create imaginary "currency" having no intrinsic value which is eventually used for speculation inspired by the same greed they so ardently oppose.
Such has been the case with the current mortgage crisis as the do-gooders have devalued mortgages from a hard-headed investment into a "hoped for" tool to set up poor people for failure by getting them into homes they cannot afford through NINJA (No Income, No Job, or Assets) mortgages.
Is it any wonder then that this program will inevitably fail as have funny money programs such as food stamps and NINJA mortgages have failed?
posted by tovarich at 3:18 PM
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