by rdf
Mon Sep 18th, 2006 at 07:36:10 PM EST
Al Gore gave a "major" speech at New York University today. There are threads on dKos dealing with it, but I'd like to express my reservations.
He made several policy proposals. The most important (with my remarks) below.
- The US needs to help the big three car makers compete against foreign (more efficient) vehicles. This means supporting hybrid, flex fuel vehicles.
- The US should substitute a pollution tax (meaning Carbon Dioxide) for payroll social security and Medicare taxes.
- Coal should be encouraged but all CO2 should be "sequestered". Plants would be zero emission.
- Nuclear will play a small role, limited by the expense and size of plants as well as the fear of nuclear proliferation.
- "Family" farmers should be encouraged to grow low tillage fuel crops like switch grass.
- The US (and I guess elsewhere) should put an immediate freeze on the amount of Carbon Dioxide emitted, so that the amount won't continue to increase. We will then start to discuss how to make the total decline.
- Liberals and environmentalists should join with religious groups who are interested in "stewardship" of the earth and make these moral issues.
My 2 cents:
- The big three have had decades to develop more efficient vehicles. They spent billions in government sponsored programs and produced little. What's the real difference if a Toyota factory in Alabama makes cars or a Ford plant in Michigan? History has also shown that when efficiency goes up so does driving, there is no net decline in consumption.
- If the tax works and firms pollute less than the tax revenue will decline and there won't be funds for the social programs. Taxes either generate revenue or control behavior, they can't do both at once.
- Sequestering is unproven and the environmental damage from extracting coal was not addressed.
- He assumed that the waste storage, safety and reliability issues will be solved.
- Family farms play a minuscule role in the overall economy. If growing fuel crops becomes viable it will be run by agribusiness. We all know studies about how much land and water is available to grow the crops and extract the ethanol.
- There was no discussion of how would freeze the total. Neither technical nor economic concerns were considered. This would be left to the "people" to decide, I guess. Limiting emissions now would require immediate constraints on new car purchases, new building codes and retrofitting of factories if they are to add capacity.
- I have no complaints with appealing to people's moral beliefs, but so far he is the only one. Perhaps he can inspire others.
There was no mention of the depletion of natural resources or sustainable development, or scaling back economic activity. Nothing was said about over population or declining water and arable land. The focus was strictly on cutting greenhouse gases. As a barn burner speech it was better than anything else being said by politicians these days, but as a blueprint it was short on details.
I guess its a step in the right direction, but I'm still waiting for someone to acknowledge that the world is finite.
