Again, I support the regulation of fossil fuel usage and the use of alternative energies. I just don’t agree with the bill on cap and trade because it is not just a clean cap and trade on CO2 emissions, such as what you saw on the EPA website. However the use of fossil fuel over the next decade is imperative to our environment while we do more research on alternative energies. That said, cap and trade should be analyzed through other countries that have tried it. Some have abandoned it for a variety of economic reasons.

I’m glad you don’t like ethanol. I was worried for a moment.

I do not support ethanol.

Although I believe the free market would eventually respond to increasing demands for alternative energy, I do not believe that the adjustments would be made soon enough. This is partially due to the fact that unemployment and a stagnant economy are more tangible facts than resource exhaustion and global warming, which are abtract and based in the long-term. (This would also explain the recent actions of some countries in regards to their emissions limitations. Even Germany plans to permit higher pollution rates among car companies in order to prop up the industry.)

Ultimately, the government must act in the better interest of society, namely the regulation of industrial fossil fuel usage. If the transition to alternative energies is not made soon enough, then we jeopardize not only future industries, but our own expected standards of living.

For the long end of it, read my post.

Thanks for the comment. I hear what you’re saying but, If cap and trade were really successful than why are countries like Australia, Spain and the Netherlands abandoning this wonderful policy?

I never mentioned anything about energy. I think it would be a good idea for companies to switch to a energy efficient sources which is happening in many cases. Maybe even wind farms as the Germans do love so much…. Which, until anything like that is put in place, cap and trade would allow the use of ethanol as a source of energy!!! Please, tell me if that suits you?

As I think we all understand, CO2 emission do have to be curbed. And yes, this would work if the whole world took on this policy but, cap and trade is a tax and has greater negative effects on the economy, which is what my main argument is.

Nowhere did Kathleen say whether or not she was for the Patriot Act, but is the basis of your comment “Republicans can do it, so we can, too?”

You don’t see any problem with passing a bill that hasn’t been read through?

There are few doubts that global warming is -if not entirely- partially caused by mankind’s pitiful example of resource management, but whether that is true or not, there is absolutely no doubt that our planet cannot sustain our current (and continually increasing) energy demands. Forcing companies to adapt to this reality is imperative and something that only the government and an informed public can do.

If companies could simply run ‘laissez-faire,’ women and children might still have 10-12 hour work days. We can only thank the implementation of government legislation and changes in societal norms that such cruel working-hours no longer exist in the United States and Europe. After all, they could be paid less and work longer and that saved quite a bundle on the labor costs curve.

The same goes for alternative energies: when the world’s petroleum resources run dry we better hope that our industries have made the right adaptations to survive. What will GDP look like then, if companies do not get their act together in time by themselves?

Furthermore, the EPA website has published information in regards to American Cap and Trade policies which have already been in place for years with successful reductions in industrial pollution. Also consider examples of Cap and Trade abroad. The system is not perfect by any means, but it is a good start with a precedent of effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, if German electricity firms are earning record profits as you claim, then green technology must be a profitable industry. Regardless, Germany and Germans are verdammt proud of their wind farms and solar panels – even if they are expensive.

Like the PATRIOT ACT (if only they had spent as much time reading the document as they had coming up with that stupid acronym — and yes, it’s ALL an acronym)?

Oops.