In her desperate search for up to $2 billion-a-year more of our money to fund her debt-ridden government, Premier Kathleen Wynne is reportedly going to try and convince us that cap-and-trade isn’t a carbon tax.
Don’t be fooled. Cap-and-trade is a carbon tax by another name.
In fact, it’s far more prone to political corruption, insider manipulation and fraud than a carbon tax.
That’s why the fraudsters at Enron were among its earliest promoters in North America.
Cap-and-trade raises the prices of consumer goods and services, as opposed to a carbon tax which is essentially a sales tax or a tax on consumption.
In cap-and-trade, the government sets a gradually decreasing annual limit on industrial carbon dioxide emissions and auctions off “carbon credits” to major industrial emitters, who then pass on the cost of these permits by raising their prices to consumers.
Carbon credits — each one typically entitling the bearer to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent — are then traded among major emitters in what is essentially a stock market.
The theory of cap-and-trade is that it’s a “market solution” to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, because more energy efficient companies make money by selling unneeded permits to less efficient ones.
Thus, supposedly, there is a market incentive for all emitters to reduce emissions through technological innovation over time.
In fact, what neither a carbon tax nor cap-and-trade do effectively — based on real-world experience in Norway (carbon taxes) and Europe (cap-and-trade) — is lower greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change.
None of which will stop the Liberals from forging ahead with a cap-and-trade program, according to a report in Friday’s Globe and Mail.
It said Wynne has decided to price industrial carbon dioxide emissions through cap-and-trade rather than a carbon tax.
This isn’t surprising given that Wynne’ predecessor, Dalton McGuity, first proposed a cap-and-trade market with several Canadian provinces and U.S. states in 2008 and passed the enabling legislation in 2009.
But he abandoned the idea because of its political unpopularity and loss of his majority government in the 2011 election.
Now Wynne, having recaptured a majority in June, is apparently poised to revive McGuinty’s cap-and-trade plan.
That’s bad news for Ontarians.
more
Cap-and-trade is really a carbon tax | GOLDSTEIN | Home | Toronto Sun
Don’t be fooled. Cap-and-trade is a carbon tax by another name.
In fact, it’s far more prone to political corruption, insider manipulation and fraud than a carbon tax.
That’s why the fraudsters at Enron were among its earliest promoters in North America.
Cap-and-trade raises the prices of consumer goods and services, as opposed to a carbon tax which is essentially a sales tax or a tax on consumption.
In cap-and-trade, the government sets a gradually decreasing annual limit on industrial carbon dioxide emissions and auctions off “carbon credits” to major industrial emitters, who then pass on the cost of these permits by raising their prices to consumers.
Carbon credits — each one typically entitling the bearer to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or its equivalent — are then traded among major emitters in what is essentially a stock market.
The theory of cap-and-trade is that it’s a “market solution” to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, because more energy efficient companies make money by selling unneeded permits to less efficient ones.
Thus, supposedly, there is a market incentive for all emitters to reduce emissions through technological innovation over time.
In fact, what neither a carbon tax nor cap-and-trade do effectively — based on real-world experience in Norway (carbon taxes) and Europe (cap-and-trade) — is lower greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change.
None of which will stop the Liberals from forging ahead with a cap-and-trade program, according to a report in Friday’s Globe and Mail.
It said Wynne has decided to price industrial carbon dioxide emissions through cap-and-trade rather than a carbon tax.
This isn’t surprising given that Wynne’ predecessor, Dalton McGuity, first proposed a cap-and-trade market with several Canadian provinces and U.S. states in 2008 and passed the enabling legislation in 2009.
But he abandoned the idea because of its political unpopularity and loss of his majority government in the 2011 election.
Now Wynne, having recaptured a majority in June, is apparently poised to revive McGuinty’s cap-and-trade plan.
That’s bad news for Ontarians.
more
Cap-and-trade is really a carbon tax | GOLDSTEIN | Home | Toronto Sun