quote:Originally posted by Cueball:

As does "cap and trade". Cap and trade merely sytemitizes the exemptions as a pseudo-commodities market. Does we really need to turn the evironment into a commodity in order to save it?

A carbon tax does exactly that - treats the environment as a secondary benefactor of a tax gimick which may or may not have any positive effect. No one knows, because ~"a carbon tax has never been used before to solve an air pollution problem" - Fred Krupp, Environmental Defense Fund(U.S.), whereas a cap and trade system has been successful in North America to reduce SO2 emissions causing acid rain.

The problem is that capitalists and government do not account for the environment or social costs when doing capital budgeting. Marx to Polanyi said that to neglect to do so is very unscientific. We need a full accounting of the economy which necessarily must include the environment as well as what Canadian William Krehm termed the "social lien."

quote:.Hint: Move away from dubious market mechanisms as the primary lever of controlling co2 emissions.

[ 30 October 2008: Message edited by: Cueball ]

A legal cap has nothing to do with free markets and everything to do with placing the onus for enforcing it on democratically-elected governments not Exxon-Imperial and friends of the two old line parties. Ultimately, how effective either carbon tax or cap&trade is to be depends on governments taking a pro-active role for the sake of an improving environment. Canada's CO2 emissions did only one thing with Liberals in power for twelve years, and while neglecting the existing carbon tax in place on home heating fuel, 4%, and gasoline at 10 cents a litre, and that was increase every year the Liberals were in government.