Really wrong.... until the end
This entry was posted on 6/16/2008 4:39 PM and is filed under Tax Shifting,Global Warming deniers,Global Peak Oil,Global Warming.
From the Wall Street Journal Online two weeks ago - The Coming Oil Investment Boom.
Some really bad ideas and points until the end when he points out that what's needed are "carbon taxes as a de facto consumption tax." Other excerpts with my comments:
"....it's working. Money is pouring into Canada's massive tar sands." [and, Canada is wrestling with balancing oil from tar sands with greenhouse gas emissions.]
"If today's towering price of oil reflects some speculator's bet on a long-term scarcity of liquid motor fuels, this will prove the misguided bet of a lifetime." [Wrongo. Oil prices may drop in the short-term based on the Saudi production increase announced today (see below), but it will never again be below $100 for a more than a couple of months. From DOE's Energy Information Administration:
Total World Oil Demand (million barrels oil per day)
2003 - 79.61
2007 - 85.38 (a 7.25% increase in four years)
Total World Supply (million barrels oil per day)
2007 - 84.55 (see the beginning of a big problem? In the last four years supply was larger than demand or they we very close. In 2007, demand was greater than supply by almost 1 million barrels of oil per day.)]
"By one count, America sits on enough oil and gas to meet its own needs for half a century." [By what count?; at what price per barrel; and, 50 years is a very short amount of time. (unless of course you're completely selfish)]
"But the biggest fools today may be those greenies who are clapping their hands over $135 oil as if this somehow represents the beginning of the end of fossil fuels. High prices are not the equivalent of carbon taxes – they will have the opposite effect in the long run, spurring investment and technological progress to bring vast new resources of fossil energy into production. For instance, turning coal, oil sands and oil shale into motor fuels, which is cost-effective at half of today's oil price, means massive additional releases of CO2. It's the worst nightmare of the climate worrywarts." [Yep, high fossil fuel prices are not quite as good as increased non-renewable energy taxes, but they are spurring the renewable energy industry. The more we pay the external costs of our energy use at the time we use the energy, the more non-renewable energy sources will benefit. 'Worrywart' means there's no basis for worry. Let's see what this guy is writing about global warming in 5 or 10 years.]
"...begin with recognizing that science doesn't prove the case against CO2." [Ouch. The only question is whether global warming is being caused by man; atmospheric CO2 levels have risen. (period)]
"Even if carbon's guilt is assumed, the economics are far from certain that it wouldn't be cheaper just to endure a changing climate." [The height of arrogance. Let's see.... a 'battle' between earth and the human species; who would win?]
Now the 'good' arguments - ('cause he supports a tax shift and higher energy taxes):
"Finally, growing up means recognizing that their one politically and morally saleable proposition is to offer carbon taxes as a de facto consumption tax, with the proceeds used to offset labor and capital taxes that discourage work and investment. This would be a case of taxing "bads" not "goods," with benefits for growth and the average voter's bottom line independent of any problematic evidence about CO2 and climate. Voters and their representatives then could at least contemplate supporting a climate policy on cost-benefit grounds..."
% % % %
Today's world oil production news:
From the BBC, "UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says Saudi Arabia will increase oil production in an attempt to meet growing demand." - Saudi oil production increase
Although -
From PeakOil.com - Asian refiners say 'no thanks' to more Saudi oil
