Thursday, May 22, 2008

San Francisco Bay area air regulators to charge businesses fees for greenhouse gas emissions

When we first saw this proposal our response was "This is worse than useless"*. It still is.
From MSNBC:

Air pollution regulators in the San Francisco Bay area voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to approve new rules that impose fees on businesses for emitting greenhouse gasses.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District's board of directors voted 15-1 to charge companies 4.4 cents (euro.03) per ton of carbon dioxide they emit, an agency spokeswoman said.

Experts say the fees, which cover nine counties in the Bay Area, are the first of their kind in America. The new rules are set to take effect July 1....MORE


*This is worse than useless. A review of the literature shows that a price of $100 to $200 per ton is required to change behavior. This is just a targeted fund raiser, gussied up in green. As such it could have the effect of reinforcing cynicism toward politician's venality.
(disclosure: I am not a cynic, I am jaded*)...MORE