« Re: dire words from IPCC
Re: dire words from IPCC »

Re: dire words from IPCC

On Apr 8, 2007, at 10:11 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

On 4/8/07, Doug Henwood dhenwood@panix.com wrote: >

On Apr 7, 2007, at 10:29 PM, tfast wrote:

I absolutely think it is going to happen and that is why the right is so frightened by the environment: It puts the social regulation of capitalism back on the political agenda with an inevitability.

Excellent point. Time for some ACT-UPish actions at Ceres ?

Which says, “Wherever possible, the national policy should include mandatory market-based solutions, such as a cap-and-trade system, that establish an economy-wide carbon price, allow for flexibility and encourage innovation,” backed by BP America, etc.? Isn’t this what is called greenwashing?

It’s more than greenwashing, but less than what should be done. They,
and other corporate enviros, are calling for pretty steep cuts in
greenhouse gas emissions, but you have to wonder how serious they
really are - and the cap-and-trade system is deeply problematic.
(I’ll post my Nation piece on all this when the magazine comes out at
the end of the week.) But is it an entirely bad thing to have big
capital showing signs of taking climate change seriously, and trying
to push the U.S. government into action? It’s not like there’s a
vigorous mass movement on this right now.

Doug

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One Response to “Re: dire words from IPCC”

  1. Dan Says:
    April 9th, 2007 at 10:18 am

    There certainly are some benefits of big capital showing signs of taking climate change seriously, as long as the cap-and-trade system doesn’t end up preempting more effective action. Despite my objections to cap-and-trade, I do acknowledge that cap-and-trade proponents have provided a real service in moving Congress and the country toward accepting that action on climate change is imperative and that putting a price on carbon is essential. Cap-and-trade will not be the ultimate solution, however; because of its complexity and the delays inherent in its development and implementation.

    The Carbon Tax Center strongly endorses a carbon tax. We have serious questions about the efficacy and equity of a cap-and-trade program and believe that a carbon tax is the most transparent, universal, equitable, understandable and immediate measure for creating incentives to reduce carbon emissions. For a comparison of a carbon tax to cap-and-trade, see the issue paper on our website.

    Looking forward to your Nation article!

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