scfranklin94

Big Hoopla Over Climate Change Proposal

Cap and trade is just a tax on carbon emissions via a bureaucratic mish mash of credits, so why not do straight carbon taxes instead? Do you really think that if US Steel was running out of emission credits and couldn't afford the current price for additional credits, that they wouldn't lean on their congressional allies to get some new ones from the gov't? Why create a new commodity that will be gamed by all the financial houses?

Carbon taxes would probably be spent on something other than renewable energy, but at least we can calculate the receipts and see how much the gov't spent on such projects. Cap and trade is much more opaque in calculating it's success or failure.

Exxon CEO Favors Carbon Tax Over Cap and Trade System

Problem with the carbon tax is that the revenue will probably be spent on things other than alternative energy. Major problem with the Cap & Trade is that bureaucrats set the quotas and hand out pollution credits. If you have to have one, at least with the carbon tax it's easier to match up tax revenue vs. gov't spending on alternative energy. Cap and trade will just lead to more government corruption as politicians jockey to get extra credits for impacted special interests - just like they do in Europe.