Cap and Trade - the New Tax

The emerging Cap and Trade Standards that are being contemplated by the U.S. Congress, the United Nations and many other so-called members of the “green” movement are nothing more than a new form of taxation that is designed to pry additional taxes from businesses, and in turn from individuals, for the perfectly natural process of producing carbon dioxide-a natural substance without which life could not exist. Any rational discussion of this topic must include a short tutorial on the chemistry of plant and animal life on Earth. The majority of non-green living things inhale oxygen and dispel carbon dioxide. It is a perfectly natural process that is the supporting element of most life on the planet. Green things, grass, trees, seaweed, and the like breathe in carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen in sunlight (photosynthesis) and breathe like other living things in the absence of light, or darkness, if you prefer. This can be refined somewhat to talk about the gills of fish, which separate oxygen from water, but basically this breathing of oxygen and exhaling of carbon dioxide is a process which none of us can live without. With this in mind let us examine some of the theories behind the concept of Cap(ping) and Trade(ing). Under Cap and Trade a person or a business would be permitted to create a certain amount of carbon dioxide and would be required to pay a fee (tax) if they exceed the limit. Mind you, they pay a fee (tax), but they do not really decrease their emissions, only pay a penalty for exceeding the artificial limit. Below is an example of such thinking. The following is directly from a website that catalogs these Cap and Trade specialists: Example: a mid-sized 30 mpg car driving 12,000 miles/year will create about 3.55 tons of CO2/year. Using the carbon calculator of one of the companies which are listed here, we figured this would cost only about $19.50 or $1.63/month to be offset! This means that for a very small amount of money you can drive the equivalent of a zero-CO2-emission car! Further reading only confirms the obvious. You do not really reduce the emissions, but you drive the equivalent of a zero-CO2-emission car by paying the $19.50. Supposedly a company, like the one owned by Al Gore plants a tree with the money, but if they use the money to buy a gas-guzzling SUV or fly a jet to Aruba, how would you know? Another part of Cap and Trade is the removal and storage of Carbon Dioxide from the environment. Has any research been done to determine the effect of removing CO2 from the atmosphere? Has anyone considered the effect on the trees and green groundcover all over the planet if we remove CO2 from the atmosphere? What we would actually be doing is preventing plants that perform photosynthesis from the having the CO2 they need to create oxygen. Such activity can only make the situation worse and not better. Cap and Trade is gimmick. It’s a gimmick that basically charges you for the air you breathe. Wise up America or you will only have yourself to blame.