As reported in a USA Today editorial in August, while Al Gore browbeats ordinary Americans about energy consumption, he does very little to curb his own voracious energy appetite. One thing Gore does claim to do is to pay “energy credits” to atone for his fondness for private jets, although according to the USA Today, his film distributor foots the bill. But do these energy credits actually do anything to reduce greenhouse emissions? Not likely.
The reality is that they are nothing more than a cleverly disguised way to squeeze more tax dollars out of consumers. The large industrial companies, wealthy jet-setters, and utility companies that spew pollution into the air have no incentive to change their ways. These scoundrels need only pay energy credits and they can continue polluting unabated while claiming to be helping the environment. Costs are passed along, as is always the case, until the final link in the chain – the consumer – ponies up.
Politicians in England are now considering extending their own program of “carbon credits” to encompass every facet of business including hotels and grocery stores. Of course, no one will do a thing to reduce energy consumption, but the cost of living will again rise for ordinary folks. The writing is on the wall, at least for those in the U.S., Great Britain, and other industrialized nations – governments have their sights set on exploiting the current global warming hysteria.
global warming is a serious problem that, if left unchecked, will hurt our kids and grandkids. It will be expensive for us to change the way we live and hurt the planet (and ourselves) less. But we have to try. Using a freemarket financial scheme in which pollution and green-ness are indicators to be bet on, like a stock, is only one idea for making things better. If our cost of living goes up, then so do the companies who pollute. This energy credit thing may not pan out if everybody doesnt join on to it, but at least its an attempt. But you can bet that if companies start noticing their stock price dropping because they are low on the green-index, they will change their ways. That way, it will cost us all a little less come tax time to clean up the messes we are making.