Block, Siteadmin, SkipCaptcha, Upload, Automoderated users, delete, edit, move, nsTeam2RO, nsTeam2RW, nsTeam2_talkRO, nsTeam2_talkRW, protect, rollback, Administrators, template
293,895
edits
Changes
→Drawbacks
==Drawbacks==
==Drawbacks==
As with any increased cost of business, the costs of emission permits are passed on to the consumer or the shareholders. For this reason, critics of cap and trade maintain the system amounts to a tax increase on the middle class and the poor.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123655590609066021.html ''Who Pays for Cap and Trade?''], Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2009.</ref>
As with any increased cost of business, the costs of emission permits are passed on to the consumer or the shareholders. For this reason, critics of cap and trade maintain the system amounts to a tax increase on the middle class and the poor.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123655590609066021.html ''Who Pays for Cap and Trade?''], Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2009.</ref>
[[Spain]] has a cap and trade program in place which led to 31% increases in the price of electricity and energy. Dr. Gabriel Calzada, a professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid told reporters, "It has cost billions." Obama claims that part of his strategy will result in good paying 'green-jobs' but Calzada said for every green-job, 2.2 jobs in Spain were lost.<ref>[https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=47679 House Republicans Hold ‘Energy Summit’ to Blast Cap-and-Trade Legislation] CNSNews, May 06, 2009</ref>
[[Spain]] has a cap and trade program in place which led to 31% increases in the price of electricity and energy. Dr. Gabriel Calzada, a professor at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid told reporters, "It has cost billions." Obama claims that part of his strategy will result in good paying 'green-jobs' but Calzada said for every green-job, 2.2 jobs in Spain were lost.<ref>[https://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=47679 House Republicans Hold ‘Energy Summit’ to Blast Cap-and-Trade Legislation] CNSNews, May 06, 2009</ref>
==Enron==
:''Main article:'' [[Enron]]
Even after the U.S. withdrew from the Kyoto protocols, Enron continued to push for a domestic regulatory scheme known as cap-and-trade, whereby the government would set a cap on the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions allowed in the U.S. It would distribute permits or allowances to companies affected by the cap giving them the right to emit a certain amount of carbon dioxide. Those allowances could then be traded on a carbon emissions trading exchange.
Enron executives believed that a cap-and-trade program would put them in a position to dominate the U.S. energy market. Electric utilities, required to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, would be forced to switch from coal to natural gas as the only practical alternative to electricity production. As a leading trader of natural gas, Enron would be the recipient of a huge financial windfall.
While [[Barack Obama]] served as a board member for the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, it gave nearly $1.1 million to start the Chicago Climate Exchange, calling itself "North America's only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases, with global affiliates and projects worldwide."<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/25/obama-years-ago-helped-fund-carbon-program-pushing-congress/ Obama Years Ago Helped Fund Carbon Program He Is Now Pushing Through Congress,] By Ed Barnes, March 25, 2009. FoxNews.com</ref> In 2010, the Chicago Climate Exchange collapsed.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/09/collapse-chicago-climate-exchange-means-strategy-shift-global-warming-curbs/ Collapse of Chicago Climate Exchange Means a Strategy Shift on Global Warming Curbs,] By Ed Barnes, November 09, 2010, FoxNews.com</ref> As many investors were wiped out, its founder sold out before hand for $90 million and [[Al Gore]], who was also associated by name with the company, pocketed $18 million.
==Necessity?==
==Necessity?==