Comments on: Changing Their Tune http://www.terrarossa.com/changing-their-tune/ Where Conservatives Consider a New Energy Future Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:10:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Jim Davis http://www.terrarossa.com/changing-their-tune/#comment-206 Jim Davis Wed, 21 Feb 2007 21:13:27 +0000 http://www.terrarossa.com/?p=93#comment-206 A carbon cap will help the economy? Corporations are supprting it because it will spur more efficient sources of energy....??? What is this guy smoking? I would suggest that Alan Murray study the history of government regulation of industry, be it the rail roads, trucking, utilities, etc. Regulation always goes through the same stages. First, it is fought tooth and nail. Second, when it begins to appear that regulation is going to happen, the corporations suddenly support it. Last, when Congress starts drafting legislation, the corporations lobby Congress to get the regulations written in a manner which profits them the most and makes it cost prohibitive for others to get into the business. We are now at the second phase. All businesses want the same thing, that is to make more money. A small business has to rely on inovation, marketing and luck to make money. A big business has other options. They can afford to lobby Congress to pass laws which give them a competitive edge, they can afford to move to other countries or otherwise work in the international arena to skirt domestic regulation and taxes. This is what the carbon cap offers these companies. So if I invent a better mouse trap and I want to build a mouse trap factory I now have to buy carbon credits since I am a new polluter. From whom do I buy them? Well maybe GE closes a factory and now has spare carbon credits which they can sell to me. Plus they just open a new factory in the Congo or some such place which doest have a carbon cap and where the government will pay for the factory with a World Bank loan. I think I will go now and sell Alan a bridge. A carbon cap will help the economy? Corporations are supprting it because it will spur more efficient sources of energy….??? What is this guy smoking? I would suggest that Alan Murray study the history of government regulation of industry, be it the rail roads, trucking, utilities, etc. Regulation always goes through the same stages. First, it is fought tooth and nail. Second, when it begins to appear that regulation is going to happen, the corporations suddenly support it. Last, when Congress starts drafting legislation, the corporations lobby Congress to get the regulations written in a manner which profits them the most and makes it cost prohibitive for others to get into the business. We are now at the second phase.

All businesses want the same thing, that is to make more money. A small business has to rely on inovation, marketing and luck to make money. A big business has other options. They can afford to lobby Congress to pass laws which give them a competitive edge, they can afford to move to other countries or otherwise work in the international arena to skirt domestic regulation and taxes. This is what the carbon cap offers these companies. So if I invent a better mouse trap and I want to build a mouse trap factory I now have to buy carbon credits since I am a new polluter. From whom do I buy them? Well maybe GE closes a factory and now has spare carbon credits which they can sell to me. Plus they just open a new factory in the Congo or some such place which doest have a carbon cap and where the government will pay for the factory with a World Bank loan.

I think I will go now and sell Alan a bridge.

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