Who Pays for Cap and Trade?

I didn't know much about the Cap and Trade bill, so I decided to look it up...and here is what I found.
What Would a Successful Cap-and-Trade Program Look Like?
American Progress.org

The cap: To achieve this goal, the U.S. government should steadily tighten the cap until emissions are reduced to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Businesses would have to obtain permits entitling them to emit a certain quantity of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. All permits would be auctioned off by the government. Emissions permits in the near term would likely fall in the range of $10 to $15 per metric ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent.

The trade: Companies unable to meet their emissions quotas could purchase allowances from other companies that have acquired more permits than they need to account for their emissions. The cost of buying and selling these credits would be determined by the marketplace, which over time would reduce the cost of trading the credits as trading becomes more widespread and efficient. - full article and down-loadable document here

LIBERTY MAVEN: "The good news is that President Obama isn’t going to Copenhagen to sign a treaty, but he may sign a proposal that could lead to a treaty at a later date. The Copenhagen proposal is designed to create an international scheme to control carbon emissions (and the entire world economy in the bargain).

President Obama wants to have the “cap and trade” (cap and tax) bill passed before he goes to Copenhagen.

Our goal should be to send him to Denmark empty-handed." Click here to find out more about sending a letter to Congress.

CITIZENLINK: "The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is considering a cap and trade bill that purportedly takes aim at global warming.

Under a cap-and-trade scheme, the government would set a limit or "cap" on emissions of carbon dioxide. If, for example, a company goes over the limit, the government would force it to buy "credits" from other companies deemed by government to be producing less carbon dioxide than the cap allows. In countries where it has been tried, fraud has been rampant.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairs the committee and is co-author of the bill. She claims the legislation would create jobs, but that contradicts a statement made to Congress earlier this month by the director of the Congressional Budget Office that said cap and trade would cause "significant" job losses." - full article

NEWSWEEK: "Cap-and-trade does very little at a very high cost. Americans would spend $100 billion to $200 billion a year for limited results: a 15 percent cut in U.S. emissions would reduce global emissions by less than 4 percent, which would have a negligible worldwide impact. Investment bankers need cap-and-trade to make their "green energy" deals successful. That's great (and profitable) for them, but their earnings would come at the expense of every other American." - full article

WALL STREET JOURNAL: "The Congressional Budget Office -- Mr. Orszag's former roost -- estimates that the price hikes from a 15% cut in emissions would cost the average household in the bottom-income quintile about 3.3% of its after-tax income every year. That's about $680, not including the costs of reduced employment and output. The three middle quintiles would see their paychecks cut between $880 and $1,500, or 2.9% to 2.7% of income.

Cap and trade, in other words, is a scheme to redistribute income and wealth -- but in a very curious way. It takes from the working class and gives to the affluent; takes from Miami, Ohio, and gives to Miami, Florida; and takes from an industrial America that is already struggling and gives to rich Silicon Valley and Wall Street "green tech" investors who know how to leverage the political class." - full article

Click here to find out more about sending a letter to Congress.

Share