I have been hearing from Washington how wonderful the new cap and trade bill is and how it is going to solve the world greenhouse gas pollution problem.
Of course no one has yet established or proven that CO2 gases are pollution, but that's OK.
There is a working device that removes CO2 from the atmosphere, but let's understand it really is not about pollution.
There is plenty of money to be made trading excess carbon.
If your company is one that emits any carbon containing gas a regulator is going to "inspect" the company and he will permit the amount of gas the company is allowed to emit.
Unless he is an expert in the industry how can an accurate estimate be made? I know having had to deal with regulators in my former business.
He has a book which is at least several hundred pages written by another Washington expert regulator who has never seen what he is regulating.
The on-site expert sets a cap.
It is the maximum amount of carbon gas the company is allowed to emit.
He says, "Live with it or we will fine you".
Here is the usual Washington stupidity.
If the company exceeds the "cap" it can buy extra emission carbon credits so it can pollute all it wants without being fined.
There is an exchange where carbon credits can be traded, International Emissions Trading Association.
This is another wasteful bit of bureaucracy that has shown so far that emissions have not been reduced.
In plain English it doesn't work.
How can it work when the world's largest polluters - China, India & Russia - don't pay any attention to it.
There are some huge basic reasons it won't work.
First the great farce called global warming has not been proven and if it has there is not enough evidence to blame it on man.
If it is mans' fault then why aren't the powers that be trying to stop population growth.
In the next few years another billion people will be living on the planet each one exhaling CO2 with every breath.
All that breathing has to be stopped.
Any ideas how that will be done: a bigger war, worldwide Ebola, sterilization? Companies that are emitting more that their allotted cap will continue to do so as as they will then factor that into the cost of their product.
From your local power plant you can expect an increase in your electric bill.
Someone has to pay for bureaucratic stupidity and it it usually the end user - you and me.
Before you know it there will be a tax on breathing.
Oops, I forget, there already is.
The IRS sets the rate.
Go ahead breathe deeply, but hold your nose because of the stink from Washington.