Eugene weekly., June 18, 2009, Image 4

viewpoint/opinion
BY PETER DEFAZIO
Cap and Profit
Europe’s example is nothing to emulate
T
his paper published an opinion piece on
June 4 (“The best option among fl awed
choices?”). The author (Erin Noble) de-
scribed cap and trade as effi ciently and politically
viable and said Congress need only look to Europe
as an example to bypass any mistakes for an
American version of cap and trade.
With the exception of Mr. Noble, most analysts
deem Europe’s cap and trade plan a failure. Emissions
on the continent have risen every single year under cap and
trade. Meanwhile, costs to consumers have skyrocketed while speculators and
hedgers trade $60 billion worth of pollution allowances annually in a lucrative
market.
So, what did Europe get wrong?
First, it gave away pollution allowances to industry for free based on
historical emission levels. A fairer approach would have been to auction
the allowances to the highest bidder. This would have generated billions in
revenues that could have been used to assist consumers with rising energy
costs and to invest in cleaner technology.
Second, Europe deregulated its carbon market, allowing speculators to
buy, trade and sell allowances. But speculators, hedgers and investment
banks aren’t in the market to reduce emissions; their bottom line is maximum
profi ts (remember credit default swaps?). With speculators come market
manipulation, profi teering and higher costs to consumers without benefi ts.
Third, Europe allowed polluters to use “offsets” to meet emission targets.
An example of an offset is a promise to plant trees in Indonesia. Polluters
can “buy” the potential carbon stored by the trees, claim it as a pollution
credit and apply it to their emission cap. This allows polluters to forego any
meaningful change in behavior since there are endless “offset” possibilities.
As Congress moves forward with cap and trade in the U.S. (as planned in
the Waxman-Markey bill), you’d expect we would at least attempt to avoid the
pitfalls experienced by Europe. But we haven’t learned our lesson. Instead,
we’re heading down the same road.
As in Europe, the Waxman-Markey bill also gives away most allowances
to polluters free of charge. Total giveaways to industry are estimated to
be $821 billion over the fi rst seven years of cap and trade alone. Again, an
auction would have been more effi cient and fair. But the government trusts
the energy industry to “pass through” the benefi ts of the $821 billion to
consumers. This from the same industry that produced Enron.
As in Europe, the Waxman-Markey bill allows speculators into the pollution
market. This provides Wall Street with enormous opportunities to game
the system. We should expect new exotic fi nancial products, new derivative
markets and volatile prices for allowances. Merrill Lynch recently predicted
the carbon market created by a cap and trade will be the fastest growing
market in history, with volumes comparable to credit derivatives ($35 trillion)
within a decade. Get ready for the “carbon bubble.”
As in Europe, the Waxman-Markey bill relies on dubious offsets to meet
emission targets. The bill allows polluters to buy up to two billion offsets per
year before actually having to change their business-as-usual emissions. In
fact, the combination of offsets and free allocation of allowances potentially
delays any reduction in emissions until 2025. We can’t wait 15 years before
cutting GHG emissions.
I’m old fashioned. I think a better approach is to regulate. We should cap
GHG emissions, establish a schedule for reductions and fi ne polluters that
don’t meet the standards (see my alternative, HR 1683). This is the approach
we used under the Clean Water Act to clean up our rivers, waterways and
streams. It was phenomenally successful and didn’t involve the added costs of
obscene profi ts for Wall Street speculators.
Peter DeFazio of Springfi eld is a congressman representing the 4th District. He can be contacted at (202)
226-5740 or through www.defazio.house.gov
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4 JUNE 18, 2009
EUGENE WEEKLY
letters
TO THE EDITOR
FEAR OF DIFFERENCE?
I understand the withdrawal of the
photo exhibit at Meadowlark, but I am
always disappointed when discord trumps
discussion. Once again the opportunity
to learn and broaden our collective range
of understanding is undermined by a few
minority opinions.
I try to respect the right to disagree,
but when further division and discord, not
to mention hostility, is created then I’m
saddened and puzzled. Is it fear-based, and
if so, fear of what? Difference? Gender
identity is real but forced to live largely in
shadows. The focus of the controversy is a
young woman of extraordinary courage,
most of you have no idea how much. Why
should that be true? The statistics of violence
are a matter of record directed toward those
who identify as gay, lesbian, transgendered
or queer. There is no evidence of violent
retribution directed back to those who
identify as heterosexual.
Why the fear? Why the violence? When
will it end? Why can’t all people regardless
of any kind of difference live and let live? It
starts with each of us. Onward.
Judy Moseley
Eugene
FUNKY IS BEAUTIFUL
I don't even know where to begin. There
are so many directions to take on the topic of
Civic Stadium. I guess a good place to begin
is with the past, the present and the future.
Not necessarily the stadium's past, but
mine. I have been going to baseball games
with my family at Civic as long as I can
remember, as a child and now as a parent.
Now that I have children of my own, I look so
forward to June, when we can go make new
memories and learn more about America's
favorite pastime. The future is part of the
past, and the past is part of the future.
If Civic Stadium with its old wood
benches and its steep wooden stairs isn’t
here for my family, I will feel like a part of
America has been taken away.
Please, don't update the stadium and
make it "new" or "improved." Don't "update"
anything. In fact, the worn-out benches,
railings, steps and toilets are what keep the
stadium perfect. They also keep the pride of
knowing it is an old stadium and not a new
one.
Civic Stadium is a great place to take a
date, great place to forget the worries of the
world and a safe and fun place to take the
family — no matter if it's a mom and dad
taking their small children or a son taking his
cane-using dad. It is a wonderful, absolutely
not upscale, evening of memories.
Brenda Royce
Springfi eld
TAKE A RIDE FIRST
Federal stimulus package dollars are
working their way through the pipes toward
Eugene and Springfi eld. Of the $2.4 billion
that is coming to the state, $8 million will be
spent on bicycle infrastructure in our area.
That any money was dedicated to sustainable
modes of transportation at all is a point to
be celebrated, but before city planners start
designing the projects specifi ed in the bill,
I’d like them to do one small thing: Take a
bike ride.
The specifi c ride I have in mind should
include a trip through the Hilyard Street
intersection of Franklin Boulevard. On
Hilyard, the bike lane ends at Franklin,
and from here you have two options. The
inconvenient way is to take the pedestrian
route, maneuvering on to the sidewalk and
then waiting again halfway through the
intersection. The faster option may be to wait
for the green light to appear on its own, then
merge with the automobiles as you enter the
intersection. This is risky enough in itself,
but don’t neglect to watch out for traffi c
coming in from your right once you get to
the other side. Be prepared for honking cars
at your tail since traffi c from both streets
has now been funneled into your lane, and
there’s no way to get on to that nice wide
sidewalk from here.
Level two: Use the same intersection
to go south, taking a left on Franklin
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