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Let the Market Work

Posted on 07. Dec, 2009 by Skunk Ape in Energy & the Environment

All these so called Republicans are making me even crazier than the fleas that infest my ass.  Everyone that has come out against Cap & Trade just proves the complete stupidity that is reigning supreme in the GOP these days.

Cap & Trade is really simple. They create a cap on pollution, specifically CO2. Any business that keeps under these caps will pay no additional costs. Businesses that go over will have to pay a pollution tax. Here’s the kicker…if these same companies manage to reduce their overall pollution, they can sell their excess pollution credits to other companies.

That means these companies will make money for reducing pollution.  The environment benefits and so does the bottom line. Those companies that are still polluting will have the ability to purchase credit offsets for less than the carbon tax.  And the government will make money from everyone else.

This is a simple plan to commoditize CO2.  We put a price on pollution and let Adam Smith’s invisible hand of the capitalist market control the outcomes. In short, this is using market tools to effect a desired outcome.

So why are all the supposed GOPers opposed to this?  It’s a free market solution to a globally agreed upon problem.  Hell, even the Chinese agree that global climate change is a credible threat.  But for some reason, the modern brand of No Nothing Republicans continue with their policy of sticking their fingers in the ears and shouting “No, no, no!  Blah, blah, blah! I can’t hear you if I hum scream enough!”

Instead of real solutions, they just throw up roadblocks to protect their coal and oil buddies.  It’s sickening.

Real Republicans understand how the market is a force for good. They understand that we can use the power of the market to moderate human and corporate behavior. Ronald Reagan understood that when he took on polluters to stop acid rain in the 1980’s.

In the 1990’s the USA ushered in a cap and trade law on sulfur dioxide.  The result was a sizable decrease in acid rain, improvements in smoke stack filtering, less pollution from industry, lower than anticipated costs for deployment and an overall improvement in our environment.

The GOP needs to stop acting like corporate shills. They need to stop electing No Nothing idiots that deny science. They need to end the reign of superstitious ideologues who profit from electoral ignorance.