Saturday, April 18, 2009

Some fear cap-and-trade system for emissions will lead to financial 'carbon bubble'

We have a bingo!
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
A growing number of lawmakers who are deeply involved in the effort to reduce greenhouse gases and global warming are beginning to question "cap and trade," the current hot-button solution to the problem.

The chairwoman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's energy subcommittee, Sen. Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, says she isn't so sure the cap-and-trade approach favored by the White House, environmental groups and many of her Democratic colleagues is the way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants and other industries. She fears that it could lead to the same type of unregulated Wall Street moneymaking schemes that fueled the current recession.

"I have serious concerns about how a cap-and-trade program might allow Wall Street to distort a carbon market for its own profits," Cantwell said in an interview.

Cantwell and others are leaning toward a system, dubbed cap-and-dividend, that would cap carbon dioxide emissions and require companies to pay for their credits or allowances. The money raised would be distributed to taxpayers, who probably would face higher utility bills as utilities pass along the added costs of curbing greenhouse gases....MORE

HT: the Carbon Tax Center who put out one of the funniest press release headlines of all time:

The World Welcomes CTC!