Mr. President - What If You're Wrong?

Reading some of the summaries of the Cap and Trade bill that are now coming out, I'm not only sickened by what the bill is supposed to DO, but get even more queasy at the possible unintended consequences if you are wrong, Mr. President.

The premise of the bill is the issue of global warming. There is still enough debate in the scientific community, that someone who is sure that global warming caused by man-made CO2 emissions is not making a rational, informed decision. Looking back a couple of decades, we had a period of cooling. Maybe cooling is the trend and the last couple of decades of warming are just anomolies? So what if the warming crowd is wrong?

Cooler climates will have one big effect on the planet - shorter growing seasons and the complete destruction of food growing areas in the higher lattitude areas of the planet. Hmmmm. Shorter growing seasons lead to less food? Less food leads to poorer nutrition at best and famine at worst? The Law of Unintended Consequences striking again?

In addition to all the provisions of the bill that have been discussed recently, now it comes out that there are provisions for trade tariffs against countries who do not also reduce their emissions, chiefly aimed China and India. The good intentionists are trying to keep a level playing field between American industries that must comply with Cap and Trade and the industries in the countries that don't comply with OUR view how to prevent global warming. Hmmm. Sounds good. Fair play is the American way, right?

Those that know a bit of history, know that virtually all serious economists acknowledge that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 was the chief cause of the Great Depression. Most economists believe that tariffs are bad in any form. Starting with the Market Crash in 1929, the economic health of America started on a rapid decline, with Smoot-Hawley being the major nail in the coffin.

Tariffs have never been in the best interest of our, or any other country. So why have we used this mechanism now? My belief is it's just another action designed to destroy the economy of this country, so our politicians can save us again, but this time by a complete remaking of the social and political fabric of this country.

There's More to Cap and Trade Than Global Warming

There's been lots of talk lately since "Dr. O" announced his new miracle drug, "Cap and Trade". Much of the criticism surrounds the cost of the drug. But, it's proponents extol its virtues and justify the cost by saying how it will help cure the epidemic that will ultimately lead to our extinction. The disease it treats, of course, is "global warming".

Oh wait, we can't call it that anymore. The media consultants to the envirnmentalists are now urging a re-branding of the movement. In an article in the May 1 New York Times, ecoAmerica, a nonprofit environmental marketing and messaging firm in Washington urges us now to:

"talk about 'our deteriorating atmosphere.' Drop discussions of carbon dioxide and bring up 'moving away from the dirty fuels of the past.' Don’t confuse people with cap and trade; use terms like 'cap and cash back' or 'pollution reduction refund.' "

Read the whole article.

So, now when we speak to our friends and neigbors, we must direct the conversation to "cap and cash back" or "refunds." Cash back? Really? You and I are getting cash back from the drug? Not likely. Like all drug companies, the cash goes back to the drug company, not to the afflicted patient. Likewise, the carbon dioxide cash back goes to Dr. O so that he can finance the development of new drugs! Pretty slick eh? After all, without the cash back scheme, we will just have to pay more for our "governmental premiums" (income taxes).

Even better, Dr. O has an orgainzed legion of drug "detail men" (the eco-Nazis) to sell the new drug for him for free, and keep the results of their sales (the cash back). This is a beautiful scheme for Dr. O because the detail men volunteer their time, rather than ask for a just compensation for their efforts.

But, down deep, Dr. O and the detail men know that his cash back drug is not really going to help the patient at all. The reason is, that 80 of the world's population is not only NOT going to buy the drug, they are busy making the disease worse by incubating more of it and spreading it to others.

Let me explain. Only 20 percent of the world's nations have the resources to control carbon emissions. This same 20 percent are the nations that also are taking the cash back drug (and washing it down with government Kool Aid). The other 80 percent (the "poor," undeveloped nations) cannot afford "clean" technologies. These countries have huge deposits of "dirty" fuels that they will burn because that's all they can afford. These poor, underdeveloped countries will emit more carbon dioxide, collectively, than the other 20% of the world's rich nations combined. By the way, included in the list of poor nations are China and India! Huh???

Having large reserves of cheap, dirty fuel and no mandate to adopt cap and trade taxes, puts them at a competitive advantage in the cost of producing goods. Hence, more jobs from the developed countries move to the poor countries, thereby raising their standard of living. Holy cow!!! The cash back drug has the side effect of wealth redistribution!!!

Think of it, one "drug" gives our politicians more money to further reengineer our society, to save our planet, and to redistribute our weatlth all at once. This is truly a miracle drug.

Copyright 2009, Chuck Schaeffer. All rights reserved.