The price of European emission permits is rising so rapidly that German companies are threatening to leave the country. Thousands of jobs could be lost. And the environment may, in the end, be no better off.Read the whole thing here.
My favorite part is where the technocrats -- the "experts" on environmental economics -- come face to face with people who have to live in the real world.
The businessmen's anger surprised the emissions-allowance trading experts. They had invited industry representatives to a relaxed forum at the Environment Ministry's office in Bonn. They wanted to present international developments in the carbon trading market. However, the mood in the German business world has soured -- managers no longer have the stomach for academic lectures.Good for them!
Well, if business is hurt, and jobs are lost, then who benefits?
[A]t the moment there is only one winner: the German state. Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück can expect tax revenues from the climate protection program which will far exceed estimates from the start of the year.And that is the nut of the situation. Cap and trade systems are, in the end, nothing more than a heavy tax burden on businesses that will hurt the economy and benefit only the bureaucrats. That's why Democrats such as Al Gore, Barry O, and Hillary!'s hubby are so enthusiastic about them.
Democrats long ago ceased to represent the common man -- they are now the party of the bureaucracy.
