Posts tagged…Emissions
Market and PPP measures of GDP
Tue, Jul 14 2009
In comments on the previous post, Ian Castles AO, the former Australian Statistician, notes that the World Bank and IMF create confusion in their reports by mixed use of market-exchange-rate (MER) and purchasing-power-parity (PPP) bases for estimating output and growth. Simply, using market exchange rates to compare the value of output among countries over-estimates the size of developed…
Read more…India against ‘green protectionism’
Fri, May 15 2009No to binding targets, no to 'carbon tariffs'.
"India on Thursday urged other emerging countries to oppose developed countries' efforts to force developing nations to make binding commitments on reducing their carbon emissions or pay tariffs, Press Trust of India reporte" Link via Kyodo News
India's opposition will have a big impact on the prospect for any decision in Copenhagen in December.
China worries about U.S. carbon tariffs
Wed, Apr 22 2009In a speech in the U.S. yesterday, Tung Chee-hwa, vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) hit out at plans for carbon tariffs in the Democrats' bill for emission controls
"A top adviser to the Chinese government on Tuesday warned that a proposed US border tax on carbon sensitive materials ‘smells of protectionism’ and could spark retaliation from developing…
A WTO ‘code’ on carbon tariffs
Thu, Apr 02 2009Gary Hufbauer, Steve Charnovitz and Jisun Kim from the Peterson Institute have produced a small book that recommends a way to deal with the vexing—but probably inevitable— conflict between future UNEP obligations to control GHG emissions and WTO provisions on keeping markets free from regulatory distortions at, and behind, the border for goods and services.
The book helpfully and accurately…
Cap-and-trade to fund Obama’s tax cuts
Thu, Mar 26 2009This seems to be a plan to make the workers pay for the proposed tax cuts for the middle-class.
"The White House planned to finance the tax cuts with revenues from its proposed cap-and-trade scheme to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, but neither the House nor Senate budget committees are planning to include those measures in their legislation.
In his press conference on Tuesday evening, Mr Obama…
A tangle of carbon taxes
Thu, Mar 19 2009A big storm on the horizon… get ready for it
Border tax adjustments ('carbon tariffs') are inevitable once mandatory carbon taxes or emission caps with market value are applied to production. Now, the Obama administration acknowledges that:
"Mr. Chu, speaking before a House science panel, said establishing a carbon tariff would help 'level the playing field' if other countries haven't imposed…
Effect of a market ‘fix’...
Mon, Feb 23 2009Contrary to the spin, emissions-trading discourages conservation:
"But the fact is once emissions trading comes in, every tonne of emissions saved by households simply frees up an extra permit that will allow big polluters to increase their emissions. This is because emissions trading relies on a fixed number of pollution permits being in circulation at any point in time. While most people…
The evidence on cap-and-trade
Wed, Feb 18 2009"The problem in Australia is not that the wrong policy won in the battle of ideas. The problem is that the battle never took place. We need to have this debate. If the Government is determined to introduce further climate change policy, there are plenty of reasons a carbon tax may be better than a trading system." Op Ed by John Humpreys in The Australian
Exactly!
Emission controls not warranted by facts
Tue, Dec 16 2008
Some environmentalists (and The Age newspaper) are predictably crying foul at Kevin Rudd's relatively modest White Paper option of up to 25% or 35% cuts from the estimated business as usual level of Australian GHG emissions in 2020. Nevertheless, the proposed ETS conforms to the government's threat to "reform and transform our economy" (Climate Minister, Penny Wong), by effectively choking it…
Rug-man on climate haircut
Sun, Dec 14 2008
"On Thursday the Italian premier had repeated a threat to veto the package if Italy's demands were not met, and said in a frank exchange with journalists that he thought it was "absurd" to be talking about carbon emissions in the face of the more pressing financial crisis. "It's like someone with pneumonia thinking about having a hairdo," he said." (extract from ANSA)
Transition to a non-carbon economy
Fri, Nov 21 2008The objectives of climate-change mitigation programs such as those in the Garnaut Report or in the Australian Government's absurdly-named 'carbon pollution reduction scheme' cannot be achieved by 2020 or 2050 without a massive, and rapid, transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources of primary energy for base-load power generation, transport etc.
But forcing rapid change in the way we…
Designing a carbon tax
Wed, Aug 06 2008
"Experts" are struggling for space in the media to peddle designs for a carbon "pollution" reduction tax. Paul Kelly in the Australian newspaper seems to approve a proposal by Geoff Carmody of Access Economics for a consumption tax in place of a cap-tax-equivalent on production of Australian carbon.
"'Australia can only control its consumption of emissions,' he says. 'Attempts to control…