Presentation Transcript

1. Cap and Trade
2. What is Cap and Trade? According to epa.gov, ‘Cap and trade is an environmental policy tool that delivers results with a mandatory cap on emissions while providing sources flexibility in how they comply. Successful cap and trade programs reward innovation, efficiency, and early action and provide strict environmental accountability without inhibiting economic growth.’ But what happens when we break this down?
3. There are two parts to Cap and Trade
4. Here’s How CAP Works…. The Government sets an emissions cap based on an honor system of facilities self-reporting emissions.
5. Permits are then divided up. Each facility is given a set number of permits, based on their reported emission. It is here they must purchase enough permits to pay for their carbon emissions for the year.
6. Permits are then either given out for free (allocated amount approved by government), or bought at auction. According to the website, any monies received by auction are returned to the taxpayers….
7. Permits expire yearly. As the emission caps become tighter year by year, there are fewer permits and the price increases for each permit. Facilities are forced to choose to either release less emissions, or purchase more on the Private Trading Market.
8. Here’s How TRADE Works…. The Private market is only open to entities that have received Carbon Permits. Permits are sold by facilities that have excess permits, or have not purchased enough permits from the Government Auction to cover their emissions.
9. A facility can sell their extra permits on the Private Trading Market if the facility has either used less carbon emissions either because the facility has physically lessened the amount of emissions or they have made an efficiency upgrade within their business.
10. A facility will need to purchase more permits on the market if they have gone above and beyond what they were allotted.
11. Permits prices are not regulated and will depend on supply and demand. Any money made on these permits go directly towards the facility and does not benefit the American public.
12. ABC Plumbing ABC Plumbing has purchased 150 permits to use for the year. They find in August, they have used all 150 permits. Going to the Private Trading Market, they purchase another 76 permits from DEF Electrical, who sold them on the Trading Market. ABC Plumbing now has their permits and DEF Electric has money in their pocket.
13. ABC Plumbing’s Allocated Permits
14. The Selling Point It will not cost anything; It will increase jobs; It will increase green investment; and It will save the environment.
15. Just The Facts! COST A private Economic Analysis of the Waxman-Markey Bill shows the loss in 2020 being $161 Billion. That translates into $1870 for a family of four. By 2035, the loss is $393 Billion, which translates into $6790 for a family of four. (Using 2009 dollars) -Heritage Foundation
16. Just The Facts! COST According to James Rogers at Duke Energy Corp, permits that start at $20 per ton of Carbons Emitted will raise energy prices, natural gas, gasoline, electric, by 25-40%. It has been verified that Mr. Roger’s synopsis is a very conservative figure. Some are saying up to 100% price hike. Obama admitted that electrical costs will skyrocket. His aides have confirmed that the $20 is a starting point. There is no real way to correctly determine the cost of this bill because the bill has been written up to change as needed.
17. Just The Facts! JOBS The goal of cap and trade is to drive up the costs of energy in order for people to use less of it. Because just about every business uses energy to produce goods and must pay their own electricity bills, the cost of production for businesses increases, and consumer demand falls for two reasons: Price hikes on goods reduce demand, and People have less disposable income due to higher energy prices. Overall, production cuts and reduced consumer spending destroy jobs and slow economic growth, which further increases unemployment. Many companies will move their businesses overseas to non participating countries.
18. Just The Facts! Green Investment According to an analysis of the bill by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Waxman-Markey would actually result in less renewable energy produced than without the bill because of the overall decline in electricity use. Green projects do not pay for themselves; it is the taxpayers who fund the research and development of renewable energy and the cost of the subsidies that are required to make renewables competitive. Yet renewable energy still only provides a small fraction of America's energy needs, and it is more expensive per kilowatt hour than traditional, reliable sources of energy.
19. Just The Facts! Saving the Environment The alleged benefit from cap and trade is that the regulations will reduce carbon dioxide emissions enough to slow warming and reduce global temperatures. According to climatologist Chip Knappenberger, Waxman-Markey would moderate temperatures by only hundredths of a degree in 2050 and no more than two-tenths of a degree at the end of the century.
20. Spain’s attempt Spain has attempted Cap and Trade and it has failed miserably. 2.2 Jobs have been lost for every 1 green job. 9 out of 10 “green jobs” created in Spain over the last decade are now gone. What’s more, Spain spent $753,778 to create each job, including subsidies of $1,319,783 per wind industry job. The current unemployment rate is 18%.
21. Has Cap and Trade Saved the Environment In Spain? NO With rising unemployment and corporation that cannot fiscally remain in Spain, those jobs have gone to China, Japan, and other countries that do not participate in these plans. …where they can produce more carbon.
22. Raising energy costs kills. According to a Johns Hopkins study, replacing three fourths of U.S. coal-based energy with higher priced energy would lead to 150,000 extra premature deaths annually in the U.S. alone (Harvey Brenner ,“Health Benefits of Low Cost Energy: An Econometric Case Study,” Environmental Manager, November 2005). ·
23. Reducing emissions, a major rationale for “green jobs” or renewablesregimes,hits the poorest hardest. According to the recent report by the Congressional Budget Office, a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by just 15% will cost the poorest quintile 3% of their annual household income, while benefiting the richest quintile (“Trade-Offs in Allocating Allowances for CO2 Emissions”, U.S. Congressional Budget Office, Economic and Budget Issue Brief, April 25, 2007)
24. Raising energy costs loses jobs. According to a Penn State University study, replacing two-thirds of U.S. coal-based energy with higher-priced energy such as renewables, if possible, would cost almost 3 million jobs, and perhaps more than 4 million. (Rose, A.Z., and Wei, D., “The Economic Impact of Coal Utilization and Displacement in the Continental United States, 2015,” Pennsylvania State University, July 2006)
25. What Can We Do?? WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT! They answer to us, we do not answer to them! Talk to your family, friends, and neighbors. Start a letter writing campaign. CALL your representatives. Be active within your community. Run for office Actively protest (but use scarcely) Be around like-minded people. Don’t be burdened by someone who doesn’t listen.