Firing People to Fight Global Warming
‘The price of European emission permits is rising so rapidly that German companies are threatening to leave the country. Thousands of jobs could be lost. And the environment may, in the end, be no better off.’
They sat silently through two lectures, but then they couldn’t control their anger any longer. The civil servants from the Environment Ministry, the Environment Agency and the German Emissions Trading Authority made it sound easy for industry to take up carbon trading. It was just too much for the managers to tolerate.
“If that’s the shape the trading will take, we will simply move our cement operation to Ukraine,” a cement factory manager shouted into the lecture hall. “Then there won’t be any trading here, nothing will be produced here anymore — the lights will simply go out here.”…
n the last 12 months alone, the price for the right to pump a ton of carbon into the atmosphere has shot up from €23 ($36.5) to nearly €30 ($47.6), according to the European Energy Exchange in Leipzig. This hike of around 30 percent has a direct effect on the electricity production of power companies.
According to calculations by Point Carbon — a Norwegian company that specializes in analyzing global power, gas and carbon markets — this price hike would drive up the marginal cost of energy from an old brown coal power plant by the entire price of carbon. For modern natural gas power plants, it would increase prices by a third. Energy company RWE, which is based in the German city of Essen, reckons it alone will have to pay €9 billion ($14.2 billion) for its own electricity production, which it, of course, will pass on in higher electricity prices. So carbon trading will have a direct impact on which countries firms chose to locate in…
Still, the really tough measures of the European emissions trading scheme have not yet been put into force. Only from 2013 — the start of the third trading period — will prices shoot up.
According to European Commission plans, every European company will then have to acquire pollution permits from a sort of stock exchange. So far the permits have been handed out free, or largely free. In the coming months the European Council and European Parliament are supposed to give their blessing for the Commission’s plans. And then the pressure to relocate abroad will likely rise for affected German firms.
“The cement industry is also facing cost increases of around €900 million ($1.4 billion) from 2013,” Kern said. “That amounts to around half of our current annual revenues.”…
According to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office and the Institute for Applied Ecology, a number of other German companies from industrial sectors other than the cement industry will relocate at least part of their businesses because of the new carbon trading scheme — either because of the rising cost of permits, or because of higher electricity prices.
And this is precisely why I have said for so long that conservatives have to do something about global warming, but then in a conservative manner. At this moment, the only ’solutions’ are offered by progressives, who are more than willing to destroy their countries own economy, as long as their grand schemes are put into practice. If conservatives would offer solutions, would offer an alternative, this would not be necessary.
I have asked repeatedly in forums.
Why don’t the greenies give up their cars, electricity and co2 production for the greater good of mankind. Then the world will fall quickly to the pre Kyoto treaty period and all will be well till we can figure out what to do.
Silence. No one of course wants to give up their stuff. They only want YOU to give up YOUR stuff.
The new progressives have adopted a new philosophy to get their agenda into action. In years past they would whine and cry and it become clear to everyone they were a bunch of whiny crybabies and hence were to not be taken seriously.
They have since changed their modus operandi to Legislate and Regulate. Now everything they do is thru legislation and regulation. Now they are simply going to legislate and regulate their gay rights, abortion, marriage, gun control, co2 emmission, electric car, NO drilling.
No more whining. No more crying. The new rallying cry is Legislate and regulate. A new Era is beginning. At least in America and I see it in Europe as well.
Legislate and Regulate.
It’s amazing how this works. Greenies demand economically-damaging laws. Said laws force jobs out of the country into lesser-developed nations, which then proceed to pollute. Then greenies demand original nation pay bazillions to help clean up the lesser-developed nation….
Research Newt Gingrich’s ideas on developing alternative fuels, etc.
If that’s not a conservative approach, I don’t know what is.
I am not massively convinced that there can be a conservative solution to a problem that is largely hysteria and hype. One big problem has been that the global warming crowd keep trying to scare people with ridiculous scenarios, such as the shutdown of the Gulf Stream or the innundation of all low lying areas, when the real effects of global warming at the small predicted levels are likely to be fairly small. We were too indulgent with the Greens when oil was cheap and as a result this scare has become a ridiculously high priority.
In addition most of the global warming problem has now occurred as the rain forest has been razed at the rate of 100 sq miles per year for two decades…………thats where the problem lies……….not in America who is the leader in technology to clean up the environment.
"Why don’t the greenies give up their cars, electricity and co2 production for the greater good of mankind."
Because we all have to do our part, assigned mathematically of course. Also, stupid belittling terms hurt your image.
I think we should figure out how much CO2 we can burn before we cross the threshold. Our collective carbon permit, so to speak. Then those who burn more buy the right to do so from those countries that burn less, because OECD countries burn more than their share and poor countries can’t hope to burn as much as they are allowed. Country-country basis, y’know.
"Then the world will fall quickly to the pre Kyoto treaty period and all will be well till we can figure out what to do."
No. If some of us decrease our emissions by much some nuts will take the chance to burn more.
"In years past they would whine and cry"
Generalization, no usage of examples, appeal to stereotype and denigration of those that think we can’t ruin functioning ecologies or harm third-world people just because we can.
"Now everything they do is thru legislation and regulation."
Gee, could it be because our "whining" just let a bunch of douches call us arbophiliacs and bleeding hearts? Appeal to emotion and respect for nature, you are whiny. Circumvent those that don’t listen to words anyway, and you are an ecofascist. Lollercoaster.
"gay rights"
That should read "human rights for gays". They get insemination as if they were hetero couples, they get weddings if they find a church that wants to do it, they are treated as refugees if they flee from countries where they are persecuted, they get all the civil benefits that hetero couples get from marriage, they get to adopt and if they are discriminated for their sexuality they should have the same claim that those who are discriminated racially have.
This is progress comparable to that of ending segregation in the US. I will not stop for any obstruction to stop the denigration of humans, because if they don’t have full righs then neither have I. I am the gays, the gays are me. Hell, I am Hitler and George W Bush in essence. Because even those who deny the rights of humans have the right to be treated as humans. You are breaking the golden rule and I will legislate your world asunder.
"abortion"
I have claimed, with argumentation, many times on this blog that it is the pro-"lifers" that have to show scientific work about when "life" begins before we can have a debate. All us pro-choicers have to do is use propaganda, facts, legisaltion and everything in between to keep abortions legal no matter what. I don’t have to feel doubt on this either. Reason is with me. What I agree with pro-lifers on is that the number of abortions must be reduced.
"Legislate and Regulate."
Which is too bad, considering we tried jaw-jaw first. Guess you should have bothered to get the tough reforms done when the roads were smoother.
The main reason I am against these emission demands on companies is that they don’t help against global warming in the first place.
"I think we should figure out how much CO2 we can burn before we cross the threshold. Our collective carbon permit, so to speak. Then those who burn more buy the right to do so from those countries that burn less, because OECD countries burn more than their share and poor countries can’t hope to burn as much as they are allowed. Country-country basis, y’know."
So…cap-and-trade on a national scale? It exists: the Kyoto Protocol.
"So…cap-and-trade on a national scale? It exists: the Kyoto Protocol." Hmwah? Is it implemented? I mean, it seems to be a system designed to create incentives for limiting CO2 pollution. However, I have heard some environmental researchers saying it wasn’t that useful to begin with. I never understood the demand of its implementation either.
Standard leftie tactics - tax someone else, burden someone else with laws, etc. I’ve yet to find a Leftie that can actually practice what they preach. There is always some trivial excuse as to why they should be exempt.
I’ve yet to find a person who uses the word "leftie" and is worth any attention.
Which is readily apparent when you responded - which by definition indicates your attention to it.