There are many advantages and disadvantages when it comes to any system in regards to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. If there is a legislation that seems like environmentally would be best, most likely it comes with a cost that sometimes may seem unsustainable. Just the same, there are advantages and disadvantages to the cap-and-trade system. As Steve Richey writes in his ‘Pros and Cons of Cap and Trade’ article. The major draw toward this program is its efficiency. Companies are able to reduce their emissions at a low cost, and sell emissions credits to companies who cannot. A certain number of credits are made available to purchase. This allows the option for environmentalist to purchase the credits and retire them, therefore decreasing the harmful effects of climate change. The disadvantages to the cap-and-trade system are that larger companies drawn to use coal, oil and gas have less of an incentive to switch to using …show more content…
fee-and-dividend, I would support the fee-and-dividend system to address the greenhouse emissions in the United States. The reason I would support this program is because in my opinion the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and have a greater impact long term for reducing the use of fossil fuels and switching to renewable resources.
References
Dowdey, S. (n.d.). How Carbon Tax Works. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/carbon-tax.htm
Richey, S. (2010, November 15). The Pros and Cons of Cap and Trade. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.steverichey.com/writing-samples/climate-change/the-pros-and-cons-of-cap-and-trade/
Sedor, N. (2015, March 05). Why fee and dividend is better than cap and trade at fighting climate change. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from
Replace Cap & Trade Carbon Tax with environmentally responsible initiatives which reinvest revenue in Northern Ontario, a Carbon Tax placed on imports from excessive carbon producing countries of 10%.
For example, under a cap-and-trade system, a company with large carbon emissions might pay $1 billion dollars upfront for a high cap, or pay almost $2 billion under a carbon taxing system. With our Cap-and-Tax program, a company might pay $500,000 to get a high cap on their emissions, then pay $750,000 in gas taxes. The company doesn’t have to pay a massive amount upfront, and doesn’t pay as much to carbon taxes. This system will make large carbon taxes more manageable for struggling companies, and save companies money from carbon
Dr James Hansen’s argumentative essay, “A Solution to the Climate Problem,” discusses his premise that it is imperative for humankind to deal with carbon dioxide emissions, which he believes needs to be phased out by the mid-21st century. He begins with the current paradigm in government efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and claims that so far it has been a lot of talk and action in the other direction. Dr Hansen argues that while governments pay lip service to agreements such as the Kyoto Accord, they are going full steam ahead with projects that will result in increased carbon dioxide emissions, such as going forth with coal-fired power plants, coal-to-liquids, hydraulic fracturing, and tar sands oil extraction. Dr Hansen believes
The issue of carbon emissions is an important one not only from an environmental perspective but also an economic one. While reducing carbon emissions is an important one for the health of human beings as well as that of the environment, the larger question is what type of policy strategy is best for both reducing such emissions which might have an impact on efforts to mitigate the effects of pollution on climate change. While ther are options to consider which does not rely on economics-- technological or output standards achieved by command and control regulations--they are often fraught with political resistance by industry because they do not allow industry to make any choices or play a role in solving the problem of
Investopedia.com states, “free trade is the economic policy of not discriminating against imports from and exports to foreign jurisdictions. (Buyers and sellers from separate economies may voluntarily trade without the domestic government applying tariffs, quotas, subsidies or prohibitions on their goods or services.)” In the previous decade, one of the many controversial subjects in the Canadian economy included whether or not it was beneficial for our federal government to eradicate free trade or open it up to other nations. During my research, I discovered that free trade agreements between Canada and other nations were not as beneficial as they may have seemed for they were often business and market oriented.
The change I’d like to see is that big corporate companies, like Essar Algoma and U.S steel pay carbon taxes. Having to pay money for every ton of pollutants released, will give companies the incentive to reduce their
In “Goodbye to the Climate,” Robert N. Stavins, expresses his worry about President Trump’s “America First Energy Plan”. This plan will have an effect on United States’ climate change programs, and remove the United States from the Paris agreement. This article will be used to explain content from the public goods chapter. This discussion will cover climate change, define what a public good is, the free rider problem, and tragedy of the commons and how it relates to this article.
The following paper will provide an overview of Canada’s current climate change policy, under the Trudeau administration. Then, an overview of the climate change policy for the Trump administration will be introduced. Finally, Canada’s options in the face of these circumstances will be introduced, along with the decision that should be made for Canada’s future policy on climate change.
The argument about man’s role in climate change and the role of government, the role of industry and the role of citizens is a significant challenge that crosses all levels of government, crosses all geopolitical boundaries and crosses all sectors of business. National governments across the globe are dealing with the issue in different ways, but one overarching aspect of control and mitigation can be seen in the oversight and regulation of the electric energy industry. One significant challenge facing each nation is the cost to lower carbon emissions and the question of who will pay the additional cost for compliance. Though the cost issue is significant, a much more difficult question is whether any decision on lowering emissions can make
In managing the emissions of GHGs(Green House Gases), carbon taxes will be imposed mid 2012. "Economic theory anticipates that with the increased costs of emitting GHGs, drives emitters to downsize their activities." Salem Press (2009)
Government enacted solutions are probably the most effective ways to reduce carbon emissions and to control pollution since unfortunately the majority of individuals mainly act to their own self-interest and are not concerned with the future of the planet. This is a prime example of the tragedy of the commons, which is the exploitation of a common resource. In this case the common resource is the atmosphere. The first method proposed is the carbon cap trade system. The term cap means the limit or the maximum of the amount of pollutant to be emitted. A trade refers to the transfer of permits that have to be bought by firms that need to increase their volume of emissions from firms that require fewer permits 1. The carbon tax method is a tax on the carbon content of fuels — effectively a tax on the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels 2. So, which system would be best for the government to enact to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere?
They looked at two scenarios, inaction, where business’ continue finding and using carbon as they see fit, and action, where business’ use a low-carbon energy mix. They found that not only would the investment cost of the action scenario be no more than inaction, but it would even cost a bit less- 190.2 trillion dollars for action and 192 trillion dollars for inaction. This is before even considering the amount of money saved by the effects of the action scenario itself. The report found that, “the difference in climate damage costs between low (1.5°C) warming and high (4.5°C) warming scenarios could be as high as $50 trillion” (Business Insider). The effect of such a large economic company reporting this data is the perfect example of how using economics for the sake of reversing global warming can be really beneficial. The argument often used by economists is that becoming more sustainable would hurt the economy, but the data in this report proves just the opposite, and how terrible it would be if we did nothing. For the sake of investment in industry’s like coal and gas, this information is often denied. But this is not anywhere near the first time industry’s have had to adapt due to uncontrollable events. This report emphasizes the importance of recognizing
In Australia, there is an emerging consensus that the government should take further actions to help mitigate and combat climate change. The current most accepted policy by government is the introduction of a carbon tax followed by an ETS in 2015. However we are focusing on the carbon tax in this essay and not the ETS. Here is a brief explanation of the dynamics of a carbon tax. A carbon tax is a tax on energy sources, which emit carbon dioxide (Co2). Therefore, carbon taxes address the problem of negative externality. Externalities are the subsequent effects when individual production or consumption of a particular good or service imposes costs or benefits on others. Therefore negative externalities are effects, which pose harm to others without their direct interaction (Basic Economics 2011). However, usual market practices and transactions do not reflect these cost and benefits in the prices involved in the transaction, or take into account in their transaction decision. Therefore this is a form of market failure. By imposing a cost on these negative externalities, the hidden cost can be addressed. Ultimately the purpose of a carbon tax is to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and therefore reduce
The world economy is a very complex system; in the system harmful externalities disrupt capital flows and determine economic productivity. Most notable of these externalities is inadvertent global warming. Spending towards research and regulation of climate change at both the national and international level are very important in determining current and future business trends. Economists and scientists worldwide continuously debate the pros and cons of emissions reduction and what consequences can quickly follow. Though many have different views on the issue, all can agree that the immediate and long term effects of climate change have become an economic matter of paramount importance. The sweeping impact from climate change will have important fiscal, financial, and macroeconomic ramifications that influence global commerce standards.
Pollution, specifically global warming, is of growing concern to people and governments. It is a controversial issue whose validity is still being debated by scientists. The Kyoto Protocol is an international attempt to address global warming through emissions controls. Traditional neoclassical economic models do not incorporate pollution in rudimentary theories of supply, demand, or pricing, as a result, firms do not consider pollution as a cost of production, which leaves government regulation as the primary method for controlling these externalities. The goal of emissions trading is to allow one business, which can make greenhouse gas emission reductions for a relatively low cost, to sell