In his column today, John Stossel follows up on the debate from the IWF energy policy summit held at the end of August. One of the many topics we discussed at the event was what to do (if anything) about global climate change, particularly whether a “cap and trade” approach would be a solution. Stossel, who moderated the event, is no fan of cap and trade:
“…‘let the market work’ is a slogan among the segment of global-warming catastrophe crowd that advocates carbon ‘cap and trade.’
“I’m all for trade.
“But there’s less talk about the ‘cap’ part. That’s the government force part.
“Will chimney police come to your home? Will Al Gore tell us when we can run our air-conditioners? Will a federal officer be stationed at every factory? [Panelist Joe] Romm was honest enough to admit, ‘I am certainly not here saying that this is going to be a free lunch.’
“No, there isn’t. If the global climate change hysterics take over, we will pay and pay.
“And to what end? In Europe, where panicky politicians have forced cap and trade on their constituents in what John O’Sullivan calls ‘the universal sign of conspicuous virtue,’ energy now costs more, but most countries still have failed to meet their Kyoto carbon-emission targets. “
Read more about cap and trade here.