Belt up, Myron

Myron Ebell is writing more of those Inside the Beltway columns for his long running Boneheads Digest publication.

The "Beltway" refers to the 103km ring road encircling Washington DC where insanity and dysfunctional administration reign supreme and the fate of the human race is sealed.

Myron Ebell loves to report on its failures and legislative gridlock that continues while his favourite oil companies and coal mines continue to grub millions of tonnes of fossil carbon from the ground and distribute it to be vapourized into the atmosphere as inefficiently and in as massive quantities as possible.

Myron is always keen to toss his own lies into the pot in order to slow the progress of reason and logic.

In absence of some definitive action, such as closing the mines and oil rigs by force, it's necessary to reduce demand, and this can only be achieved -- in the current economic model -- by raising the prices.

Myron has no problem with raised prices -- as long as the profits go to oil company executives to spend on their private jets. But if the difference went into the public funds, it could be returned to the public in the form of infrastructure investments that would make it easier to get by with less oil.

Myron understands this. Just as he understands it every single day when he drives to work and notices that government taxes, not private corporations, were the ones that paid to lay the tarmac and concrete of that beltway road. The economic theories he espouses are as false as the claim that the sky is green -- just open your eyes.

He also knows why any tax on fossil fuels (to reduce their use and pay for mitigating their damage) has to apply globally, so you don't just avoid the tax by making a set of goods off-shore and importing them. In preparation for branding the policy as protectionism, Myron writes:

The pro-labor union Economic Policy Institute warned in a report that four million jobs could be lost to foreign competition if cap-and-trade legislation does not include carbon tariffs on imported goods produced in countries without carbon reduction regimes. The report also noted that total global greenhouse gas emissions would likely increase as production shifted to countries that have less energy-efficient industries.

If you go to that link, you'd find that the Economic Policy Institute report begins:

Climate change is the most important environmental issue facing the United States and the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has concluded that the “scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal” (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 2009). Rising emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) are responsible for rising global temperatures, shrinking global ice masses, rising sea levels, and increasing the intensity of tropical storms. Continued change, aside from the obvious cost in human lives, would also entail potentially enormous economic costs. It is essential for the United States to develop strong and effective GHG regulations and to negotiate an international treaty to bring about global reductions in GHG emissions.

A well-designed climate policy can support the economic recovery, and green investments can support millions of new jobs, starting with the creation of over 1 million new jobs in the next two years (Bivens, Irons, and Pollack 2009) and ensuring that U.S. manufacturing comes back stronger and cleaner than before.

Poorly designed climate change policies, however, could slow or halt the recovery of significant segments of U.S. manufacturing—as identified in this report— and could even lead to increased global production of GHGs. It is essential for the United States to enact climate change policies that ensure a strong, broad-based recovery of the economy and encourage the growth of domestic manufacturing. One of the keys to achieving these goals is to include a border adjustment mechanism—a fee on the carbon content of goods imported from countries that do not restrict GHG emissions—in U.S. climate change policies.

Myron's purpose in life is to fight for a poorly designed climate change policy. In that way, he can make sure that only the bad stuff happens, and none of the good stuff. That's the choice he wishes to impose. This is what he wants. This is why he is an enemy of the people. And a civilization that permits people like him to thrive and be influential deserves its self-destruction.

Thank you Myron. It's a shame the rest of the species has to die off with you.