Steve Kirsch has recently published a guest post on Brave New Climate titled Fee-and-dividend is superior to cap-and-trade for effective carbon emissions reductions that does a better job than I have been able to do to explain my favorite solution to the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. (I called it a tax and return when I wrote about it in early October, but that is essentially the same concept as the fee and dividend. I think Steve is better at branding than I am.)
The post provides some excellent food for thought, and it also provided a link to a must-watch-and-share video that deserves to go viral. It is not amusing, does not capture animals doing silly things and may even be considered a little boring, but please take ten minutes out of your day and watch the YouTube video titled The Huge Mistake: Why cap and trade would be bad for the environment and the economy. It was produced by two career attorneys each with 20 years of experience in environmental law and regulation. It is thoughtful and well produced. (I fully expect a strong negative reaction from my favorite pro-coal troll, but that is the risk you take as the publisher of interactive media.)
Update: (Posted at 0452 on November 10, 2009) I just realized that Steve’s guest post on Brave New Climate is a condensation of an original that can be found at Why Hansen is Right: Cap-and-trade will Make the Climate Problem Worse, Not Better. Check that one out for even more information and an interesting analysis of why Joe Romm gets it wrong from both a scientific and political point of view. Here is a quote from his extensive post that explains what I like best about this approach compared to cap and trade:
In essence, it amounts to a net transfer of wealth from people who emit lots of carbon to people who emit less carbon. In other words, the money goes from people who can most afford it to people who can least afford it. Most importantly, unlike cap-and-trade, none of your money goes to Wall Street investors and none of your money flows out of the country. In fee-and-dividend, the money flows from US consumer to US consumer.
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