The Climate Reality Project

S. 3036, the "Climate Security Act" would . . .

• Place a cap on the level of CO2 emissions


• Sell permits to businesses that would allow them to emit CO2 in amounts equal to the cap


• Allow businesses to trade and/or sell these permits to each other -- allegedly creating a market to encourage innovations that would reduce CO2 emissions


• Use the proceeds from the sale of these permits to create a vast new research bureaucracy designed to help corporations cope with the cap

As a practical matter, S. 3036 will . . .

• Raise your electricity and gasoline bills


• Provide politicians with new tools to control the economy, hand out favors, and punish enemies


• Be as ineffective in doing "research" as the Energy Department has been


• Probably (if the example of Europe is a reliable guide) have little impact on the over-all level of CO2 emissions

Even if you accept that human CO2 emissions are causing problematic global warming, a government run "cap and trade" system is not the way to deal with this problem. There is a better way. Here are some points to consider . . .

• Fossil fuels create massive amounts of air pollution, quite apart from CO2.


• This pollution causes health problems, none of which are reflected in the price of fossil fuels.


• Fossil fuels enjoy a "free ride" in terms of pollution costs that make it hard for alternative sources of energy to compete.


• Air pollution is a form of trespass, and a case can certainly be made that dealing with such trespasses is a legitimate function of government.

The federal government could do this by . . .

• Taxing fossil fuels


• Cutting other taxes so that your overall financial burden would remain unchanged

Your energy costs would rise, but your taxes would fall by an equal amount. Doing this would . . .

• Eliminate the justification for a "cap and trade" boondoggle


• Make fossil fuels reflect more of their true costs


• Provide an incentive for everyone to reduce their use of fossil fuels


• Make other sources of energy cost competitive


• Limit the financial impact on you and the economy


• Help reduce air pollution, including CO2 emissions

We know that most Americans are concerned about pollution and the environment, and for those who feel this way, a carbon tax combined with tax cuts in other areas would be a better approach.

http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=93