 |
|
Posted on Jun. 26, 2009
By Robert Bryce
The Cap-and-Trade Delusion

Photo by Phil Romans: Flickr Today, the House is supposed to vote on the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.” Also known as the Waxman-Markey bill or the cap-and-trade bill, the legislation is mis-named. It should be called “The 2009 Lawyer-Lobbyist Full Employment Act.” The bill is 1,201 pages of complex regulations that aim to do just about everything, including: - Cut US carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by 2050 – a level at which America’s per-capita emissions would be on par with the current-day emissions levels from such economic powerhouses as North Korea, Syria and Cuba. (I’m not making this up.)
- Impose new mandates for renewable energy and efficiency.
- Create a system that caps carbon dioxide emissions from large industrial plants like power generators and refineries. The system would be based on an ever-shrinking pool of carbon allowances that could be traded among various companies and investors.
- Create a new federal agency: the Clean Energy Deployment Administration.
- Increase the use of carbon capture and sequestration.
- Increase the use of electric cars.
- Prevent destruction of tropical forests.
- Cure premature baldness and teenage acne. (Sorry. I made that one up.)
While some of the items listed above may be laudable, the bill will only create more bad energy policy. There are many reasons to doubt the effectiveness of the legislation. In particular, no one knows how much it will cost, it does nothing to increase domestic production of hydrocarbons, it creates a trading scheme that is ripe for abuse, and it further promotes the ethanol scam. Need another reason to be skeptical? The caption on the bill says it is designed to “achieve energy independence.” For the full text of the bill go here. First, cost. Proponents claim it will cost American families “less than a postage stamp per day.” But the Heritage Foundation and other critics have estimated the costs could be enormous. A particularly vexing problem with the legislation is that it doesn’t differentiate among the states and their various energy mixes. For instance, West Virginia, Indiana, and Wyoming are part of a group of states that get more than 90 percent of their electricity from coal-fired power plants. That means they will pay far more under the legislation than would states like Idaho and Oregon, both of which rely heavily on hydropower. The bill offers no ideas about how to increase the domestic production of oil and natural gas. Like it or not, those two sources are the main drivers of the US economy. Together they account for 64.4 percent of US primary energy use. And yet the new bill focuses almost solely on renewable energy sources. Proponents of the bill are ignoring the fact that Enron (remember Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay?) desperately wanted caps on carbon dioxide because they saw huge profits in being able to trade carbon allowances. And now Congress wants to give Wall Street traders – the same pirates who helped engineer the financial meltdown – a mandate that requires a massive new trading business that has the potential to be gamed in the same way that Enron gamed the California electricity market? Furthermore, they are claiming that the carbon dioxide trading market will be just like the acid rain. That’s patently false. The acid raid trading system that helped reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide released by coal-fired power plants only affected on segment of one industry. The cap and trade system that will be mandated if the House bill becomes law will affect every large industrial plant in the country. Furthermore, the acid rain issue was one that was unique to one segment of the planet: the eastern US. Carbon dioxide emissions are a global issue that will require a global response. Anyone who thinks that China and India will voluntarily agree to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions – particularly those coming from their new coal-fired power plants – hasn’t been paying attention. Finally, the bill contains yet more pork for the ethanol scam. It includes a provision that could require every new car sold in the US to be capable of burning fuel containing 85 percent ethanol. That proposal – which has been flogged by the neoconservative ideologues at a group called Set America Free – has been bouncing around for years. And it couldn’t get passed as a stand-along piece of legislation. So it has been tucked into the cap and trade bill. And it has been included even though numerous studies have shown that the corn ethanol scam produces as much – or more -- greenhouse gases than conventional motor fuel. The inclusion of the ethanol scam shows that this monster legislative initiative is not about climate change or energy policy. If Congress were serious – truly serious – about trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and overall energy consumption, it would pass a simple carbon tax. But a straightforward piece of legislation like that wouldn’t be nearly so profitable for the lawyers and lobbyists who are running the show in Washington. And so we are stuck with H.R. 2454, aka cap and trade, aka Waxman-Markey. The bill appears likely to pass the House. We can only hope the Senate has more sense.
|
|
|
Back Home
Back to Top
|
 |
|
|
Corn and Coal: The Cornerstones of Obama...
By Robert Bryce
Feb. 5 2010, 5:47 EST
|
US Biodiesel: The Never-ending Subsidy S...
By Russ Finley
Feb. 3 2010, 4:17 EST
|
China And The “Deniers”: Why Climate Cha...
By Michael Economides, ET editor in chief, and Xina Xie, ET China correspondent
Feb. 2 2010, 11:41 EST
|
Obama’s “Clean Energy” Pandering: His St...
By Robert Bryce
Jan. 29 2010, 4:10 EST
|
Married to Mendacity: Growth Energy Cont...
By Robert Bryce
Jan. 27 2010, 4:27 EST
|
Chinese Coal Prices Soar, Power Producer...
By Xina Xie
Jan. 25 2010, 11:43 EST
|
White House Needs New Look At Energy
By Michael J. Economides, Editor-in-Chief
Jan. 22 2010, 12:49 EST
|
Bryce v. Pickens Tonight on Fox Business...
By Robert Bryce
Jan. 21 2010, 2:36 EST
|
America’s Future Auto Fleet: Electric Ca...
By G. Allen Brooks
Jan. 20 2010, 12:30 EST
|
2009 US Petroleum Trends
By Geoffrey Styles
Jan. 19 2010, 12:50 EST
|
Robert Bryce Talks With Author Mark West...
By Robert Bryce
Jan. 15 2010, 10:38 EST
|
China Pushes for Coal Gasification
By Xina Xie
Jan. 14 2010, 12:01 EST
|
|
|
|
US Coal Industry Balks at Proposal for H...
By Steel Guru
Feb. 8 2010, 12:59 EST
|
BP Shareholders Protest Canadian Oil San...
By Fred Pals
Feb. 8 2010, 12:51 EST
|
US Seeks Access to Nuclear Program of Pa...
By The News
Feb. 8 2010, 12:49 EST
|
Ukraine Says No Gas War with Russia
By RIA Novosti
Feb. 8 2010, 12:45 EST
|
Iran Discovers New Oil, Gas Fields
By Tehran Times
Feb. 8 2010, 12:25 EST
|
Arctic Sea Ice Vanishing Faster Than Mod...
By Bruce Owen
Feb. 8 2010, 12:16 EST
|
Fear and Farce of Climate Change Science
By Eric Reguly
Feb. 8 2010, 12:07 EST
|
Beyond the Black Stuff: Big Oil is Being...
The Economist
Feb. 5 2010, 11:37 EST
|
Energy Flow, Emergent Complexity, and Co...
By George Mobus
Feb. 5 2010, 11:27 EST
|
High Hopes for Clean Energy Jobs
By Rebecca Smith
Feb. 5 2010, 11:22 EST
|
Improved Lithium Ion Batteries
By Adam Frucci
Feb. 5 2010, 11:09 EST
|
Shell to Sell Oil Leases in Nigeria
By Elisha Bala Gbogbo
Feb. 5 2010, 11:02 EST
|
|
|
|
Home Owners in Barnett Shale Lease Dilem...
By Jack Smith
Feb. 8 2010, 12:19 EST
|
5 Dead in Gas Plant Explosion
By Michelle McLaughlin
Feb. 8 2010, 12:10 EST
|
Gas Sites Spur Air Worries
By Ben Casselman
Feb. 5 2010, 11:39 EST
|
Oil, Gas Output Rise in Colorado
By KRDO
Feb. 5 2010, 11:20 EST
|
Comparison of US Plans to Cap Carbon
By Timothy Gardner
Feb. 5 2010, 11:12 EST
|
Fed Doubts Energy States will Recover Fi...
By Stephen C. Fehr
Feb. 5 2010, 10:50 EST
|
Congress Ups Debt Limit, Then Votes to C...
By David Lightman
Feb. 5 2010, 10:41 EST
|
EPA’s New Biofuel Rules
By Geoffrey Styles
Feb. 4 2010, 4:40 EST
|
Obama Touts His Alternative Fuels Plan
By John Broder
Feb. 4 2010, 10:49 EST
|
Argentina Protests Over Oil Prospecting
By Sunday Morning Herald
Feb. 3 2010, 11:25 EST
|
Oil and Trucking Industries Challenge Ca...
By Dale Kasler
Feb. 3 2010, 11:12 EST
|
We Can’t Fight Two Wars at Once
By Alex Spillius
Feb. 3 2010, 10:50 EST
|
|
|
|
Italy’s Nuclear Plans At Risk
By Israel Rafalovich, ET Roving European Correspondent
Feb. 4 2010, 5:48 EST
|
U.K. Eyes Energy Reforms
By Selina Williams
Feb. 3 2010, 11:19 EST
|
BP Profits Slide on US Refineries
By Robin Pagnamenta
Feb. 3 2010, 11:03 EST
|
Jordan Wants Nuclear Power, Signs Agreem...
By Israel Rafalovich, ET Roving European Correspondent
Feb. 2 2010, 1:15 EST
|
Demand for Natural Gas to Rise
By The Peninsula
Feb. 2 2010, 11:27 EST
|
Gazprom to Extend Polish Contract on Eur...
By Tehran Times
Feb. 1 2010, 11:56 EST
|
BP Chief Hails American Breakthrough in ...
By Terry Macalister
Jan. 29 2010, 11:29 EST
|
Karzai: UK Troops Needed for 15 Years
By Ben Farmer
Jan. 28 2010, 10:56 EST
|
Science Chief Calls for Honesty on Clima...
By Ben Webster
Jan. 27 2010, 10:55 EST
|
European Offshore Wind Capacity up to 57...
By New Energy Focus
Jan. 19 2010, 10:41 EST
|
Preserve Coal Plants to Keep Lights On
By Tim Webb
Jan. 19 2010, 10:35 EST
|
France Cuts, Germany Debates Solar
By UPI
Jan. 15 2010, 11:14 EST
|
|
|
|
Russia, Venezuela Step Up Oil Cooperatio...
By Mu Xuequan
Feb. 1 2010, 11:28 EST
|
Belarus, Russia End Oil Supply Row
By Jacob Gronholt Pedersen
Jan. 28 2010, 11:12 EST
|
Gazprom to Increase Gas Supplies to Euro...
By RIA Novosti
Jan. 27 2010, 11:08 EST
|
BP Offers Technology, Expertise to Devel...
By RIA Novosti
Jan. 22 2010, 2:06 EST
|
Poland to Deploy U.S. Missiles Near Russ...
By Judy Dempsey
Jan. 22 2010, 12:46 EST
|
Ukraine Should Join Nord Stream Gas Proj...
By RIA Novosti
Jan. 19 2010, 10:50 EST
|
U.S. Dethroning Russia as Gas King
By Anatoly Medetsky
Jan. 14 2010, 10:57 EST
|
Turkey Approves Russian Gas Pipeline
By CCTV
Jan. 14 2010, 10:53 EST
|
Turkmenistan Resumes Gas Supplies to Ru...
By China View
Jan. 11 2010, 2:15 EST
|
Russia, Belarus End Oil Supply Talks Wit...
By China View
Jan. 11 2010, 2:11 EST
|
Venezuela, Russia May Develop More Orino...
By Jose Orozco
Jan. 4 2010, 10:46 EST
|
Russian Seaborne Crude Oil Exports Sched...
By Alexander Kwiatkowski
Dec. 30 2009, 10:59 EST
|
|
|
|
Gas Transfer to Europe Key in Turkey, Ir...
By Today’s Zaman
Feb. 8 2010, 12:55 EST
|
Iran, Pakistan to Ink Gas Deal in Turkey
By Tehran Times
Feb. 8 2010, 12:42 EST
|
Iraqi Officials Lament Failure To Refine...
By Radio Free Europe
Feb. 4 2010, 11:50 EST
|
Gas Transfer to Europe Key in Turkey, Ir...
By Today’s Zaman
Feb. 4 2010, 11:44 EST
|
Afghan Fight is Coming
By Rod Nordland
Feb. 4 2010, 11:18 EST
|
Oil Majors Move in on Iraq
By Oil Voice
Feb. 4 2010, 11:12 EST
|
Dubai Discovers New Oil Field
By Adam Schreck
Feb. 4 2010, 10:53 EST
|
Oil Demand Recovery Underway
By Trading Room
Feb. 2 2010, 11:25 EST
|
Saudis Want Taliban to Expel Bin Laden
By Abdullah Al Shihri
Feb. 2 2010, 11:01 EST
|
Iran Plans To End Energy Subsidies
By Andres Cala, European correspondent
Feb. 1 2010, 12:36 EST
|
Bulgaria and Turkey Agree on Natural Gas...
By Reuters
Feb. 1 2010, 11:54 EST
|
Lukoil to Develop Iraq Supergiant Oil Fi...
By Peoples Daily
Feb. 1 2010, 11:44 EST
|
|
|
|
China may Renew Record for Crude Oil Imp...
By China Post
Feb. 5 2010, 10:57 EST
|
China’s Oil Giants to Develop Iraq Oil F...
By People’s Daily
Jan. 28 2010, 11:21 EST
|
As China Rises, Conflict With West Rises...
By Katrin Benhold
Jan. 27 2010, 10:31 EST
|
China’s Oil Imports Continued Upward Cli...
Michael J. Economides, editor-in-chief, and Xina Xie, China editor
Jan. 26 2010, 10:41 EST
|
Sino-Kazak Pipeline Transports 20 mln to...
By Istock Analyst
Jan. 25 2010, 11:14 EST
|
China’s Economy is Soaring
By Zhou Xin and Chris Buckley
Jan. 21 2010, 10:53 EST
|
China’s US Purchases Up 300% in 2009
By Vincent Fernando
Jan. 19 2010, 10:16 EST
|
China Completes 1st Phase of Oil Reserve...
By China Daily
Jan. 18 2010, 10:57 EST
|
China Will Drive Future Car Demand
By NPR
Jan. 12 2010, 10:21 EST
|
Cold Snap Triggers Power Shortage in Chi...
By AFP
Jan. 11 2010, 2:36 EST
|
Oil Falls on Concern Investment May Slow...
By Ann Koh
Jan. 8 2010, 11:33 EST
|
Cold Snap Spurs Power Rationing in China
By Chris Buckley
Jan. 6 2010, 3:47 EST
|
|
|
|
Chevron Finds Natural Gas Off Australia
By Anna Driver
Jan. 27 2010, 11:11 EST
|
Another Gorgon Deal to Supply LNG
By ABC News
Jan. 8 2010, 11:42 EST
|
Australian $90 Billion Gas Megadeal with...
By Felicity Williams
Jan. 7 2010, 2:22 EST
|
Chevron Finds More Gas Off Western Austr...
By The Sunday Morning Herald
Dec. 15 2009, 10:32 EST
|
New Zealand on Verge of Oil Boom
By Oil Voice
Nov. 24 2009, 4:01 EST
|
Apache, Kuwait Join Chevron In Wheatston...
By Angel Gonzalez
Oct. 23 2009, 11:45 EST
|
Chevron Pushes Forward On Gorgon
By Geoffrey Styles
Sep. 21 2009, 10:08 EST
|
The Ghost Fleet of the Recession
By Simon Parry
Sep. 14 2009, 11:52 EST
|
Australian Parliament Rejects Carbon Tra...
By Reuters Staff
Aug. 13 2009, 10:43 EST
|
North Korea ''Test Fires Missiles''
By BBC Staff
Jul. 2 2009, 11:14 EST
|
North Koreans Condemn U.S. and Sanctions...
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Jun. 26 2009, 12:36 EST
|
Wind Turbines Killing Sleep Deprived Goa...
By Telegraph Staff
May. 22 2009, 11:08 EST
|
|
|
|
India Suggests Deregulating Gasoline, Di...
By Sunil Raghu
Feb. 3 2010, 11:23 EST
|
African Oil Fields on India Radar
By The Financial Express
Dec. 9 2009, 4:35 EST
|
Bangladesh to Revive Debate Over Myanmar...
By Pipelines International
Nov. 13 2009, 11:46 EST
|
RIL Discovers Oil in Cambay Basin
By Business Standard
Nov. 10 2009, 2:38 EST
|
India, Scotland Join Hands On Renewable ...
By EE Times India
Oct. 16 2009, 11:48 EST
|
Indian Subcontinent Weighs Nuclear
By Priyanka Bhardwaj and Michael J. Economides
Oct. 8 2009, 11:59 EST
|
Cameco Upbeat on Canada-India Nuclear De...
By Cameron French
Oct. 2 2009, 12:13 EST
|
Reliance Natural Seeks Dismissal of Gove...
By P.S. Patnaik and Gaurav Singh
Sep. 18 2009, 11:05 EST
|
Tangguh Plant To Ship Less LNG
By The Jarkata Post
Sep. 4 2009, 12:05 EST
|
Repsol Natural Gas Lot Production To Sta...
By Reuters
Aug. 28 2009, 11:52 EST
|
India’s Coal Needs Fuel Overseas Push
By Priyanka Bhardwaj
May. 28 2009, 4:25 EST
|
India Chooses Coal, Not Kyoto
By Priyanka Bhardwaj and Robert Bryce
May. 11 2009, 12:39 EST
|
|
|
|
India Draws Strategy in African Oil Asse...
By The Hindu
Feb. 8 2010, 12:40 EST
|
Nigerian Militants Claim Attack on Pipel...
By Seattle Times
Feb. 8 2010, 12:13 EST
|
Angola Oil Pipeline Attacked, by Swordfi...
By Matthew Clark
Feb. 4 2010, 12:29 EST
|
Nigeria’s Oil Pipeline Sabotaged
By BBC
Feb. 1 2010, 11:05 EST
|
Nigerian Militants Call off Oil Truce
By Scott Baldauf
Feb. 1 2010, 11:02 EST
|
Nigeria, UAE Supplies put OPEC Crude Pro...
By Iheanyi Nwachukwu
Jan. 27 2010, 11:05 EST
|
Nigeria Hopes to Fulfill Oil Contracts S...
By Reuters
Jan. 26 2010, 12:05 EST
|
Uganda to Block British Oil Bid
By AFP
Jan. 22 2010, 2:00 EST
|
Two Million Nigerian Vehicles to Run on ...
By Guardian Newspapers
Jan. 20 2010, 11:36 EST
|
Pirates Free Oil Tanker After Record Ran...
By Abdi Guled and Abdi Sheikh
Jan. 19 2010, 10:14 EST
|
Dana Gas Finds Oil in Egypt
By Ed Attwood
Jan. 12 2010, 10:45 EST
|
Sudan Seeks to Buy Natural Gas from Egyp...
By Sudan Tribune
Jan. 11 2010, 2:27 EST
|
|
|
|
Iran Plans 10 New Enrichment Plants
By Washington Post
Feb. 8 2010, 12:02 EST
|
Obama’s Nuclear Power Policy
By Mark Clayton
Feb. 5 2010, 11:16 EST
|
Iran Accepts West’s Nuclear Deal
By BBC
Feb. 3 2010, 11:09 EST
|
Iran Urges Islamic States to Possess Nuc...
By People’s Daily
Feb. 2 2010, 11:44 EST
|
US, Russia Near Deal on Nuclear Weapons
By Jonathan S. Landay
Feb. 2 2010, 11:06 EST
|
Italy Seeks Arab Role on Nuclear Row
By The International News
Jan. 26 2010, 12:21 EST
|
Russia Warns Against Rushing to Iran San...
By Reuters
Jan. 22 2010, 12:27 EST
|
U.S., Russia Never so Close on Iran Nucl...
By Mu Xuequan
Jan. 21 2010, 11:20 EST
|
India, Hungary Hold Talks on Civil Nucle...
By Sachin Parashar
Jan. 20 2010, 11:44 EST
|
Iran Rejects Nuclear Fuel Deal
By BBC
Jan. 20 2010, 11:09 EST
|
German Minister Tough in Nuclear Talks
By Reuters
Jan. 18 2010, 11:26 EST
|
Ahmadinejad Hails Iran’s Nuclear Progres...
By RIA Novosti
Jan. 15 2010, 11:24 EST
|
|
|
|
Bid to Develop Oil Sector in Libya Gathe...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Japanese firm to delay start of Egypt oi...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Wintry Weather Drives Energy Prices High...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Arab states may become solar energy expo...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
US average gasoline price in four week s...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Indonesia considering slowdown in coal e...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
China to increase LNG import
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Cnooc Falls After Report of Possible Uga...
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Climategate Scientist Considered Suicide
Feb. 8 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Biofuel Production Falls Far Short of Ta...
Feb. 5 2010, 1:00 EST
|
How Nigeria is sabotaging the global oil...
Feb. 5 2010, 1:00 EST
|
Europe Gasoline falls as economy concern...
Feb. 5 2010, 1:00 EST
|
|
|
|
|
|
|