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A fair way to reduce carbon emissions
Lewis Hay III, Ocala Star-Banner (Florida)
…At FPL, we invested significantly in making our existing power plants more efficient and building highly efficient plants to meet the needs of our growing customer base. [“FPL is Florida’s largest electric utility, and its parent company, FPL Group, is the nation’s largest generator of electricity from wind.”]
Our fuel mix is diversified, and about half of our electricity today is generated from cleaner natural gas and a fifth from nuclear. That starkly contrasts to the total U.S. fuel mix used to generate electricity, with coal producing half of the nation’s power. Most of those coal plants are traditional, less efficient plants with higher rates of CO2 emissions.
If we are not diligent about details of new federal CO2 policies, Floridians could end up paying twice.
By investing in clean and efficient technologies, we already have paid for our cleaner skies and lower emissions rates. In fact, if all U.S. electric companies reduced their CO2 emissions to the same level as FPL Group, the nation’s CO2 emissions would be better than required by the Kyoto Protocol. We have achieved this standard in part because of our national leadership in renewable energy, such as wind.
It would be grossly unfair if we were forced by the federal government to pay to clean up other regions of the country that have enjoyed the lower prices associated with cheaper traditional coal plants and inefficient generation, and consequently much higher emissions.
Certain congressional proposals addressing CO2 and climate change would require every company simply to reduce their emissions by the same percent relative to their historical level of emissions, without regard for efficiency records or customer growth.
It’s like asking a 300-pound man and a 165-pound man each to lose 25 percent of their weight. The 300-pound man – the inefficient, high emitter of CO2 in our analogy – clearly needs to lose the weight and more. The 165-pound man, who has made the difficult decisions and the sacrifices necessarily to be fit, simply doesn’t have any weight to lose.
Instead, in a perverse twist, under some congressional cap and trade proposals, the lean man will have to buy allowances from the overweight man just to meet the arbitrary reduction mandate. In real terms Floridians, because companies like FPL have already reduced CO2 emissions rates significantly over recent years and thus have little, if any, more “weight” to lose, will have to buy credits from companies in other states.
In contrast, a policy that simply puts a price on carbon and keeps raising that price provides a powerful market incentive to the heavy carbon emitters to change their fuel diet without penalizing those who have already achieved CO2 “fitness.”
Likewise, a CO2 policy that ignores Florida’s growth rate would be like asking a fast-growing 14-year old athlete to lose weight at the same rate as his sedentary middle-aged parents. It is unreasonable and can be dangerous to his health.
While it may be possible for Congress to agree to a reasonably fair and effective cap and trade system, there is no assurance that this will be the case. Moreover, it will be administratively complex, expensive, subject to fraud and substantially harmful to our economy.
FPL recommends a straightforward fee to be imposed equally on all carbon used as fuel anywhere in the nation. It puts a price on carbon as it enters the market – a direct way that is simple and inexpensive to administer, fair in its application and effective in achieving lower emissions while encouraging technological advancement.
The carbon fee spreads the burden across the entire economy so that transportation, electricity generation and all other sectors are equally encouraged to take action.
Lewis Hay III is chairman of the FPL Group. Juno Beach-based FPL is Florida’s largest electric utility, and its parent company, FPL Group, is the nation’s largest generator of electricity from wind.
(7 July 2007)
‘Carbon credit cards’ and ‘carbon market’ on agenda
Simon Baker, The Independent
A “zero carbon” Britain could be achieved by 2027 if a range of measures were brought in by a government with “strong political leadership”, scientists said today.
The main proposal made by the Centre for Alternative Technology report is for the creation of a carbon market based on Tradable Energy Quotas (TEQs).
People would carry their quota of “carbon credits” on an environmental smart card, and have them topped up every year.
But as the country draws closer to 2027, the overall, and therefore also the individual quota, would be reduced.
Also every time consumers used fossil fuels, say by filling their cars up with petrol, they would lose credits.
Credits could be bought from other people and companies but as the years go by they would become more and more expensive.
The resulting market would drive environmental change providing the economic incentive to produce green products.
Products that emit too much carbon would become obsolete due to their expense to people’s energy quota.
(9 July 2007)
Rep. Dingell floats ‘carbon tax’ plan
Associated Press
A House committee chairman is trying to show his Democratic colleagues that people in the U.S. are not ready to pay the full costs of fixing global warming.
Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says he will propose a “carbon tax” on the burning of fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But he says he only is offering the plan to show how unpopular it would be.
“I sincerely doubt that the American people are willing to pay what this is really going to cost them,” Dingell, D-Mich., said in an interview Friday on C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers,” which is to air Sunday.
His proposal would boost the federal gasoline tax by 50 cents a gallon, he said, and establish a “double digit” tax on each ton of carbon dioxide emissions. The federal tax on a gallon of gas is now 18.4 cents and has not risen in 14 years.
(7 July 2007)
Rep.Dingell is poisoning the well by proposing new taxes without any of the dozens of measures that might help citizens adapt (support for public transport, home energy efficiency, education..) and without corresponding cuts in other taxes.-LJ
Farmers fell trees to protest over land clearing laws
ABC
Some farmers across eastern Australia are chopping down trees to protest against land clearing laws.
The Australian Beef Association says the action involves about 2,000 farmers from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.Chairman Brad Bellinger says they will keep felling trees until governments meet their demands.
“First day, Sunday we chopped down one tree, second day Monday, we chopped down two trees and so on until we get some action from either Premier Beattie or Morris Iemma to do something about this ridiculous native vegetation act.
“We know the Australian Government is benefiting from collecting carbon credits, now we want payment for what we’re doing for the country or we want the native vegetation act removed.” Mr Bellinger says they need compensation or the vegetation laws must change.
Mr Bellinger says he will not name those involved in the protest to protect their privacy.
(3 July 2007)
Legally the farmers don’t have a leg to stand on, but they’re right in that its only thanks to uncompensated controls on land clearing that Australia will even come close to meeting its Kyoto target of emissions 8% higher than 1990 levels.-LJ
