22/01/2010

Cap and Trade Under Pressure as Republicans Win in Massachusetts


photo : Cleveland.com

The recent victory of Scott Brown in the recent US Senate by-election in Massachusetts is likely to put further pressure on the proposed Cap and Trade legisation.

The new senator actively campaigned against the legislation and his election reduces the Democrat majority in the Senate, making such bills harder to pass.

The election is significant. Brown highlighted two main issues in his campaign - the proposed healthcare reforms and cap and trade. His victory reflects the increasing concern voiced by the US chemical industry regarding the likely impact of cap and trade on industry and jobs.

It is being suggested that the bill could be watered down to focus on renewable energy alone. This blog has long promoted a sustainability agenda and agrees that increased use of renewables should be one element of this approach. There should also be a strong focus on new technologies to reduce energy consumption and waste. The chemical industry should be aiming for efficiency on a global basis. Regional schemes, such as cap and trade in its current form, are not the solution.

1 comment:

  1. Spot on; we need a worldwide arrangement and cap and trade is very difficult to extend internationally. The world will never be able to agree how to share the pain of cutting emissions or the revenue from cap and trade or carbon taxes. But there is a simple and potentially popular alternative solution.

    In a recent Times Online live debate see
    http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2009/12/live-debate-after-copenhagen-where-to-now-for-the-climate-debate.html
    85% voted that "Fossil fuel companies should be obliged to sequester an increasing fraction of the carbon content of the products they sell to avoid dangerous climate change". For details on why this proposal would be easier for all countries to agree to than cap and trade or a carbon tax, how it would encourage energy saving, renewables and nuclear, how it would be implemented and how it would stop global warming, see my website at http://jemsavestheplanet.blogspot.com/

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