Cap and Trade Fraud

Capitol Commentary (H/T Harrison) has a must read about the "theft" of carbon credits in the EU. That we would consider implementing a similar system that has been rife with fraud is beyond me. Oh wait, that's a feature, not a bug, got it. Handing out "credits" to your buddies who can then sell them on open or black markets, that's a great feature. From Capitol Commentary:

How much would you pay for something which doesn’t really exist but yet has enormous value? That’s the question many in Europe are asking themselves as it was revealed that over €30 million Carbon Credits were “stolen” by hackers and quickly moved into other peoples’ accounts. . . . Carbon Credit trading is huge in the crazy parts of the world where Liberals think naturally occuring gasses destroy the planet. In Europe, this Carbon Credit trading rang up €90 billion in 2009! These credits are bought and sold throughout the European Union among 10,000+ different businesses. The money is so good, Al Gore became a part of a Carbon Credits trading company back in 2008.

Maybe that's all we need to know about the whole scheme. As I have said before, if the left were serious about reducing CO2, they would have gone for a carbon tax, with a revenue neutral income tax offset. But since this is really about political payback and a way to extort campaign cash and actual cash, cap and trade it is.

Programming Note

Out of town for a few days, so blogging will be light. We have two big issues in the Congress right now, Cap and Trade and Financial Reform. My sense is that Cap and Trade won't pass unless significant sweeteners for coal state Democrats are thrown in the mix, in which case, it won't actually do much to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions. We should oppose this bill for those reasons and because it will be one more way for the Congress to rewards special interests and continue to rake in campaign cash from same. I intend to eventually post about how the simplicity and fairness of the tax system contribute to economic growth; it is not sufficient to merely go for reductions in taxation and spending, although they are important as well. Cap and trade, like the health care Obamanation is another step in the wrong direction.

On financial reform, I blogged on Sunday on this issue. We should remain vehemently opposed to the Dodd's bill because it keeps Too Big To Fail alive and well, permanently entrenching crony capitalism in our system.