Should We Start Over on Climate Change?
Posted on July 8, 2009 by
For every climate policy cultivated by different governments around the world, there seems to be endless debate surrounding them. Is the policy effective? How much does it cost the taxpayers? Could it do a better job of reducing the amount of pollutants that go into the air every day? There is no magic bullet for keeping our planet viable, but one group of academics has an idea regarding climate change policies: Scrap them all and start over.
A new report titled “How To Get Climate Policy Back On Course,” written by an international group of scientists, encourages G8 nations and emerging economies to work together to devise a policy that improves energy efficiency and decarbonizes energy supplies. The authors claim the current “cap and trade” systems used by many countries, including the United States if Obama’s new climate bill passes the Senate, only result in emissions continuing to rise. Such systems, which cap the amount of emissions individual companies can pump into the air but allow for trading of emissions permits between companies, only recarbonize the atmosphere rather than decarbonize, according to the authors.
Some say this line of thinking is dangerous, claiming it would be disastrous to abandon all current efforts to curb climate change and then start working in a different direction. For one thing, it would be extremely difficult for multiple countries to reach any sort of agreement on the best course of action. G8 leaders are expected to discuss climate change in a meeting today.
What do you think? Is it wise to halt our current approaches to climate change and refocus in a different direction, or is it a better idea to tweak what we’ve got until it’s more effective?
personally, I find it best to start fresh when something isn’t working and we could definitely make a big leap by doing so instead of baby step improvements to the current plan. Unfortunately, global climate change plans are like a big ship – incapable of turning on a dime so I seriously doubt there’s any hope of it.
yes cap and trade has failed, the alternative is simply to promote renewable energy and to preserve the rainforests and other carbon sinks.
Carbon trading makes money for the banks but it does not help reduce CO2
Cap and trade, in theory, is a great idea.
But as the guys who wrote Freakonomics are so fond of saying: “Morality is what you think should happen. Economics is what actually does happen.”
It’s time everybody got real about sticks and carrots.
The first error is the belief that humans are responsible for changing the climate. The climate will change whether humans exist or not. But Cap & trade is about generating money, it has nothing to do with solving the changing climate. Governments around the world have embraced C&T because it brings the green (cash), and it allows governments to have complete control of the carbon trading system and control of the entire economy. There are a thousand ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but nothing delivers the goods like Cap&trade. So you can try to start over, but since no idea you might come up with can make as much money or deliver the control as Cap&trade, all of your suggestions will be politely ignored.
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I say we go with cap and cap. Trading is bullcrap.