Passing Gas (tax)

Who owns the sky? Literally—who can claim ownership of…air? The Democrats would like dibs on it, and want to charge your business to use it.

Democratic presidential wannabe Barack Obama wants to establish an economy-wide cap-and-trade program he believes would sharply cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050.

Now before you read-on, you must understand that the theory of global warming is not proven fact. I know, I know, Al Gore’s up for the Nobel Peace Prize, etcetera, etcetera, ad nauseum, amen.
Doesn’t mean the guy is correct.

And the troubling thing is this: if an entire economic system is based upon a popular, yet unproven theory, where does that leave us? It would leave us with a flawed system, and one in which it would become increasingly difficult to produce, compete, and prosper.

President George W. Bush, for all of his wrinkles and flaws, correctly recognized this fact when he declined to sign on to the Kyoto accords. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, "compliance with the Kyoto accord would...reduce U.S. GDP by 3 percent to 4.3 percent in 2010, a loss of $275.2 billion to $394.4 billion." Kyoto would cost you and me between $921 to $1,320 apiece. The benefits to the environment would be negligible.

The Obamarator’s cap-and-trade plan would be the centerpiece of scheme to cut emissions of gases allegedly tied to global warming, and weaning the United States off of dependence on oil. Here’s how it would work: companies that produce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases* receive or buy credits giving them the right to emit a certain amount.

*Do you know what the most abundant “greenhouse gas” is?
H2O vapor is said to be responsible for about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth. Carbon dioxide causes 9-26% of the phenomenon, followed by Methane, responsible for 4-9%, and Ozone, representing 3-7%.

The Obamahola’s plan, therefore, would imposed on 100% of us because of the supposed overabundance of a substance that’s only 25% of the problem at most.

Nevertheless, if your business emits less carbon than your credits allow, you can just sell the extras—at a profit—to someone who has exceeded their emissions allowance, and need more “credits” to legally produce more effluents. So this whole scam to reign-in alleged greenhouse gasses is really little more than the creation of an artificial market place that would restrict business and generate revenue for the government. At the end of the day, we're still pumping stuff into the air, so long as we can afford to do so.

The Obamajama’s plan would require all credits to be purchased at auction, instead of an allocation by industry classes. The Senator’s campaign droids explain that such an arrangement “would ensure that all polluters pay for every ton of emissions released.”

Hmmm…pollution licenses auctioned to the highest bidder:If you like the way the government manages the telecommunications spectrum, you’ll love how they handle the carbon credit pool.

As the Obamster explained in New Hampshire last week, “The market will set the price, but unlike the other cap-and-trade proposals that have been offered in this race, no business will be allowed to emit any greenhouses gases for free.

“Businesses don't own the sky, the public does,” he said, “and if we want them to stop polluting it, we have to put a price on all pollution."

Hmm…so if you establish a market for pollution credits, and the market determines the price…does that mean you could have pollution credit splits?
Would new factories be allowed to float carbon IPO’s (initial pollution-credit offerings)?
If a business decided to split its carbon credits as their value increased, would they then have the ability to pollute twice as much?

Based upon the US free market system performance, this carbon credit market would continue to grow and expand in "value," so literally, and figuratively, the sky's the limit.

Take this to the Nth-degree, and before you know it, you’ll be paying an emissions tax for checking the air in your tires (because of that little valve fart that occurs when you first place the pressure gauge over the valve stem), laundries and dry cleaners would be dinged because of the steam vapor they produce (remember H2O vapor is the most prolific of greenhouse gasses), and I suspect Tex-Mex eateries could charge you an additional emissions tax if you order the bean burrito special from the menu.

Could carbon credit card offers be filling our mailboxes in the near future?