Cophenhagen Craziness

FED: Kill Cap-and-Tax Copenhagen Craziness

What do countries like Uganda, Burundi, Sudan and Djibouti have in common? Aside from terrorism, corruption and political instability, they are on the list of 49 countries that would receive billions of dollars every year from Canadian families as part of a new global warming agreement proposed by the United Nations (UN). And that's only the half of it. The UN also wants to impose new taxes on energy and industry that would increase energy costs and kill jobs. Prime Minister Harper should lead the world and reject calls to sign on to this misguided and expensive boondoggle – even if it means standing alone.

In December 2009, Canada will participate in a 192-nation conference in Copenhagen to hash out a scheme to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the failed international accord to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. All of this is being done in an effort to address modern and fashionable eco-guilt. Proponents of the meetings in Copenhagen propose a massive transfer of cash from developed to less-developed nations so we can atone for our supposed climate crimes. UN documents indicate this program will impose a one-time cost of at least $250 billion (US). Other reports indicate it could grow to as much as $100 billion per year. Canada’s required contribution would be no less than $3 billion per year.

The Copenhagen scheme will also promote a new international market regime for trading CO2 called ‘cap-and-trade.’ What it really amounts to, however, is ‘cap-and-tax.’ This scheme would make an Enron trader smile. It would create an artificial market with an overall government-set cap on CO2 emissions and government-set quotas for an individual company's emissions. The company would then have to reduce emissions to meet its quota or buy emission credits from a company that had emissions lower than its quota.

The result will either be Canadians paying more for the same products, or Canadian-based companies pulling up stakes and moving to foreign countries that don’t impose these additional taxes. Either way, climate change agreements like Copenhagen mean even more taxes that Canadians can't afford to pay, destroying more jobs that Canadians can't afford to lose.

Let’s not forget, we already pay substantial energy taxes in Canada. 33 per cent of the cost of a tank of gas is tax!

The realization that reducing man-made CO2 levels means a reduction in the standard of living for ordinary people will awaken Canadian politicians to an electoral hazard should they stay hitched to this global warming bandwagon craze.

Never mind we've had no global warming for the past ten years while CO2 levels have continued to rise.

The Canadian government has said it will wait for the results of the Copenhagen conference and for the US to finalize its climate change policy before announcing what Canadians are in for.

The US will probably not have a climate change policy finalized before the Copenhagen meetings. Some European governments even admit the Copenhagen scheme may not get adopted. Still, they are meeting in Copenhagen to agree to have another meeting some time in the future – all in the effort to appear to be doing something about a globe that hasn’t warmed in a decade from over-heating.

Any effort to impose yet more energy taxes in Canada would redistribute scarce resources from productive to unproductive activities, reduce wages, kill jobs and leave families shivering in the dark with their budgets running on empty. Prime Minister Harper can show leadership by rejecting Copenhagen’s efforts to drain more jobs and hard-earned tax dollars from Canada.

By: Kevin Gaudet
Posted: November 20, 2009
Topic: Federal

Type: Commentary

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Comments

Copenhagen will increase pollution, not reduce it

Increasing the costs to industry in Canada while letting China have a free pass will force more production to move from the clean  factories here to the dirtier factories in China.

Chinese industry pollutes more per unit of production than industy in Canada..


Ever wonder why the green movement wants us to buy our tomatoes locally to reduce pollution from transportation but insist on signing treaties that will result in our shipping scrap steel to China and the finished steel back here?

Hopenchangen

The recent revelation that climate scientists have been cooking the books and supressing dissenting opinion on "glo-bull warming" should be reason enough for the Government of Canada to walk away from this charade. Sadly the final death throes of this pseudo-religion will see a last concerted effort to try to "save the world" from the evils of CO2. I've written my MPP and my MP. I've written the Premier, Prime Minsiter and the Environment Ministers at the provincial and federal levels... you should too. Oh and I worte Iggy too. Tell them to give up the charade before they do irreversible damage to our country. Here's what I wrote.

Gentlemen:

Senator James Inhofe of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is calling for an investigation into the recently leaked e-mail and scientific information from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. This damning evidence is proof of collusion, lies and fraud dealing with so called global warming. These "scientists" report directly to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Their behaviour is being called the biggest scientific scandal of all time. World governments have pledged billions of dollars to fight what we now know to be an irrefutable lie (climate change). The Ontario/ Federal Government has pledged and spent millions if not billions of dollars on this fraud.
 
My question to you...

Will your government call for an immediate investigation into this issue?

To do otherwise would be criminal.

So far I have received a response from my Conservative MP, my Liberal MPP (he fought with me over global warming through e-mail) and the Prime Ministers office.

 

 

 

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