Cap and Trade jumps the shark
From Anthony at
Watts Up With That:
�Cap and Trade� fails for lack of incentives
From the DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
New research suggests cap and trade programs do not provide sufficient incentives for innovation
Cap and trade programs to reduce emissions do not inherently provide incentives to induce the private sector to develop innovative technologies to address climate change, according to a new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In fact, said author Margaret Taylor, a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) who conducted the study while an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley�s Goldman School of Public Policy, the success of some cap and trade programs in achieving predetermined pollution reduction targets at low cost seems to have reduced incentives for research and development that could help develop more appropriate pollution control targets. Taylor is a scientist in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Berkeley Lab.
�Policymakers rarely see with perfect foresight what the appropriate emissions targets are to protect the public health and environment�the history is that these targets usually need to get stricter,� said Taylor. �Yet policymakers also seldom set targets they don�t have evidence that industry can meet. This is where R&D that can lead to the development of innovative technologies over the longer term is essential.�
Heh -- you can set all the "policy" you want but businesses will follow the market forces.
A quote misattributed to
Hermann G�ring but a good one still:
When I hear the word Policy, I reach for my revolver.
Also:
When I hear the word Planning, I reach for my revolver.
Posted by DaveH at March 18, 2012 3:39 PM