This article first appeared on Lenz Blog.
The European Parliament decided on Tuesday against a proposal to increase prices for carbon permits under the European Emission Trade System.
German Economy Minister Rösler is happy about that decision, which proves conclusively that it is wrong. It also proves that the world will perish if the FDP gets over 5% of the vote in the upcoming elections in Germany. They need to be defeated decisively if humanity wants any hope of survival. </slight exaggeration> Thanks to this tweet by German Member of Parliament Hans-Josef Fell for the link.
coal power station with emissions via Shutterstock
The problem with the present state of the Emission Trading System is that it has been too successful. The EU has reduced emissions so quickly that the price of carbon permits has gone way down.
That’s of course a nice problem to have. The correct way to deal with it would be to set higher goals. If the present goals can be achieved with a very low carbon price, that shows clearly that they could be set to a much more ambitious level.
It’s the same like with feed-in tariffs. If Germany constantly marks over 7 GW of new solar capacity for a couple of years, politicians adjust feed-in tariffs downward. I really don’t understand why they don’t adjust climate targets with the same speed.
I am starting to get slightly bored with repeating myself, but I have actually solved this little global warming problem quite some time ago. Just reduce production of oil, coal, and gas. That will send prices way up. Much more than the couple of Euros per ton of CO2 the Emission Trade System brings. And at the same time it will send the profits of fossil fuel companies up, which is why they will support this proposal.
Just read the posts in the “Phaseout Profit Theory” category of this blog, or my global warming science fiction novel “Tasneem“. It is really very easy to understand and to actually do.
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