Cap and Trade?……Duck and Cover!

They’ve done it again! The fossil boys have once again secured the wool firmly over the eyes of America – Democrat, Republican, Independent and NoParty.

Can’t you just see it? Mr. Oil saying to Mr. Coal, “We got’ em again!” And Mr. Natural Gas saying to Mr. Coal, “We even got Obama and McCain, can you believe it?”

Of course they’re happy. They were given a lease on life by being allowed to buy (as in purchase) the right to continue to pollute and the money they contribute is supposed to go to providing cleaner energy. And there are some reasons why playing a game that won’t show results until 2015 is playing right into their hands. Whose hands? Come on!

Well, what exactly is this Cap and Trade?

It is a process in which the government (EPA) sets certain standards that must be met by certain deadlines. In the case of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) there are limits that must be met this year, in 2012 and progressive reductions over the years.

The amount of pollution that is released into the atmosphere is measured in billions of tons of carbon dioxide (or equivalent heat-trapping gasses). The cap is a limit on the amount of such release nationally.

As the limits decrease the theory is that pollution will decrease also – dramatically.
Only there is an escape clause that slows down the process – it’s called Trading.

Permits or “allowances” (we call them indulgences) are distributed or auctioned to the polluting offenders in quantities of one allowance per ton of carbon dioxide (or equivalent). The total of allowances, or permits, must be equal to the cap and a polluter can only emit as much carbon as it has allowances for.

The trading comes when a polluter can reduce its carbon output below the then current cap. It may sell (auction) the permits it doesn’t need to other polluters who can’t make the cap. Most recently allowances went at the price of $3.51 per ton in 2009 and a price of $3.05 a ton for a 2012 allowance. The funds produce in this way are supposed to be used for energy efficiency and clean air projects.

Rocket science is not required to see that this is getting to clean air the hard way. And never to 100%.

As one attorney put it, “Companies should have to abide by laws which limit the pollution or shut down. Any company which is producing enough products to cause that pollution is financially able to upgrade their equipment to control what they spill out into the air.”

We say, WHY NOT JUST CLEAN IT UP!

We have been pleading, begging, shouting even hawking the fact that hydropower is the one true answer to clean energy. With HYDRO there is NO POLLUTION. Even the water used to make electricity can be used again.

The Technology is there. The water is there – and is self-replenishing. The feasibility is there. All that is needed is the will!