Posted by
Vedette on Friday, June 06, 2008 6:44:24 PM
While the existence, cause, impact, and influence mankind might exert related to global warming grows more contentious among both scientist and politicians one thing is clear, we would all be well served by cleaning up the industrial emissions being introduced into the global environment As many favor a "carbon tax" as a means of forcing U.S. industry to reduce carbon emissions there is a better way.
The recently introduced Lieberman-Warner "Carbon Cap and Trade Bill" while well intentioned would result in higher energy prices, job losses, the outsourcing of manufacturing as U.S. industry becomes less competitive in the world market as a result of the carbon emission regulations. The bill is estimated cost the U.S. economy over 7 trillion dollars. The picture grows even less attractive when you consider that more and more of our needs will predictably be provided by China, India, Mexico, and other emerging industrial economies where the carbon emissions per product produced exceed that of the same goods made in the U.S. by an order of magnitude.
A significantly increased output of global carbon emissions, not a reduction would predictably occur as these emerging economies have no incentive to clean up their current environmental practices.
We should consider putting the environmental cost on those who produce it by imposing a system of import/export duties based upon carbon emissions per product produced. This could force a worldwide clean up while not placing U.S. industry at a severe disadvantage, save American jobs, and spread the burden of cost equitably.