Thursday, July 9, 2009

What's the point?

Without the cooperation of the poorer countries, reducing carbon consumption in rich countriies, e.g., by raising the price of carbon emissions, will simply move industry and production to poorer countries. This used to be derisively called "exporting pollution," but now it seems like offical government policy.
’AQUILA, Italy — The world’s biggest developing nations, led by China and India, refused Wednesday to commit to specific goals for slashing heat-trapping gases by 2050, undercutting the drive to build a global consensus by the end of this year to reverse the threat of climate change.
Peter Huber predicted as much:
By pouring money into anything-but-carbon fuels, we will lower demand for carbon, making it even cheaper for the rest of the world to buy and burn. The rest will use cheaper energy to accelerate their own economic growth. Jobs will go where energy is cheap, just as they go where labor is cheap. Manufacturing and heavy industry require a great deal of energy, and in a global economy, no competitor can survive while paying substantially more for an essential input. The carbon police acknowledge the problem and talk vaguely of using tariffs and such to address it. But carbon is far too deeply embedded in the global economy, and materials, goods, and services move and intermingle far too freely, for the customs agents to track.
But as these poor countries get richer, they will demand less pollution.

No comments:

Post a Comment