Bill GreenCARBON TRADING IS DEAD IN THE WATER
June 25th 2008 15:35
Carbon trading to beat climate change can't work for the following reasons.
Governments will place a price on carbon emissions (price recommended seriously so far is $15 a ton) and private enterprise will simply add that cost to the prices of their products. Like banks that raise their interest rates on mortgages to recover their losses in other, unwise, lending areas, it will be the consumer that pays.
This means that any penalty (or license to pollute) won't restrict them in the least. They'll barely notice it. For them it won't be a penalty.
And what of those who receive payments to perform acts to neutralise carbon emissions - by planting trees or preventing the destruction of rain forests? Because this work will be undertaken in our corrupt countries where monitoring will be non-existent (and will the polluting companies care?) they'll continue to secretly cut down forests, or neglect the trees they have planted. They won't be paid further monies for nurturing them. Imagine Indonesian or Brazilian criminals giving up the criminal logging they already perform against international concerns.
It is human nature that will prevent carbon trading having success, just as it has been human nature that caused the need for such a concept.
Governments will place a price on carbon emissions (price recommended seriously so far is $15 a ton) and private enterprise will simply add that cost to the prices of their products. Like banks that raise their interest rates on mortgages to recover their losses in other, unwise, lending areas, it will be the consumer that pays.
This means that any penalty (or license to pollute) won't restrict them in the least. They'll barely notice it. For them it won't be a penalty.
And what of those who receive payments to perform acts to neutralise carbon emissions - by planting trees or preventing the destruction of rain forests? Because this work will be undertaken in our corrupt countries where monitoring will be non-existent (and will the polluting companies care?) they'll continue to secretly cut down forests, or neglect the trees they have planted. They won't be paid further monies for nurturing them. Imagine Indonesian or Brazilian criminals giving up the criminal logging they already perform against international concerns.
It is human nature that will prevent carbon trading having success, just as it has been human nature that caused the need for such a concept.
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Comment by Louie
Climate Forum
Climate Red
randomthoughts
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If we build a credible system we will get credible results.
It is up to the consumer to wise up, don't buy offsets from a dodgy tree planter, sign up for green power through your electricity provider, they build wind turbines, no-one can dispute the credibility of renewable energy.
Petrol will only go up circa 6 cents per litre,we have absorbed way worse than that as it is.
a price for Carbon is essential to give renewable energy technology a chance to be economically viable for the future, ideally when scalability kicks in the price of carbon will become zero and we succeed in sourcing all of our energy needs from renewable sources that cause minimal damage to the environment.
cheers
Louie
Comment by Bill Green
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