‘Cap and Dividend’ turns Carbon Caps into a Profit-Sharing Gig

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Did you know that ‘Cap and Trade’ is an Old School Solution?

There’s a new Carbon Solution in play, that is CLEARLY a contender …

Cap and Dividend:

The CLEAR Climate Solution

The cap-and-dividend CLEAR Act, introduced by Senators Maria Cantwell and Susan Collins, is simple, fair and built to last. Simple: a 100% auction of permits to pollute, a return of most of the money raised directly to the people, with the remainder used for clean energy investments. Fair: each American gets an equal monthly refund from auction proceeds so that those who use less energy will do better than those using more.

http://chesapeakeclimate.org/c…

There go those “Socialist” Senators again (Cantwell D-WA, Collins R-ME) — trying to divert all those Green ‘Windfall Profits‘ from their rightful Corporate Owners, and funnel them back to the People, as a “reward” for us, Going Green!  That is, for us cutting back on wasting Energy. Here’s how the new plan works:

How cap and dividend works

Cap and dividend starts with a descending economy-wide cap on carbon suppliers rather than carbon emitters. The way the cap works is extremely important.

There are two possible places to cap carbon: (1) where CO2 leaves the economy and enters the atmosphere, and (2) where carbon enters the economy in the form of a fossil fuel. Economists call the former a downstream cap and the latter an upstream cap.

[…]

Dividends. When fuel companies buy permits, they’ll pass that cost along to their customers. This is as it should be: the cost of emitting CO2 needs to be paid by energy users. By adding this currently ignored cost, we’ll shift private investment away from fossil fuels and toward efficiency and clean energy.

Higher fuel prices have a downside, however: they take lots of money out of everyone’s pockets. The trillion dollar question is, where does that money go?

In traditional cap and trade, the extra money we pay goes to companies who receive free permits.

Under cap and dividend, by contrast, it flows into a not-for-profit trust. There it’s divided into equal shares and wired to every American’s bank account or debit card. This happens monthly and automatically.

As the price of carbon rises, so do the dividends everyone receives. And no large bureaucracy is needed.

http://www.capanddividend.org/…

Cool, we can make the world a cleaner place, slow down Climate Change, and get “offset checks” to boot ($$$). The more energy we conserve, the larger that “Dividend Check” will be, relative to energy hogs, paying full price, for all their ‘Source Capped’ Energy.

The Carbon Limits and Energy for America’s Renewal (CLEAR) Act

Cantwell’s Web Site: Clear Act

Here’s some Bullet Points that spell out some the other Advantages of this New Solution, that can actually Put Money in YOUR Pocket — instead of the Pockets of Wall Street and ‘Cap and Trade’ speculators!

THE CARBON LIMITS AND ENERGY FOR AMERICA’S RENEWAL (CLEAR) ACT:

A SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT, AND EQUITABLE APPROACH TO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

GOALS

— Establish a clear, predictable, and economy-wide price on carbon that will accelerate our nation’s urgently needed transition to a clean energy economy.

— Provide a robust source of economic growth and job creation.

[…]

— Allow market forces to find the most cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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— Impose no costs on low-to-middle income families, or to refiners, manufacturers, utilities, or any other midstream fossil fuel user.

ADVANTAGES OF THE CAP-AND-REFUND APPROACH

[…]

— Sending auction revenues directly to consumers means 80% of the American public will incur no net costs and the lowest income population will receive net positive benefits. The remaining 20% percent – the highest income earners-will see less than a 0.3% decrease in income.

— No Wall Street traders or speculators can manipulate prices or supply for consumers because they have no access to the auctions because participation is limited to the few thousand upstream entities with a compliance obligation.

[…]

— Higher energy prices will spur consumers to make to make energy efficieny investments, but the overall purchasing power of the vast majority of households will remain unaffected.

Cantwell’s Framework Paper (pdf)

‘Cap and Dividend’ sounds like a Win-Win-Win situation for everyone — EXCEPT for the Wall Streeters, who were already planning to the “Game the System” for themselves, assuming ‘Cap and Trade’ goes through, like they’ve been Betting on.

“Socialism” may not be all bad if it ends up Cleaning up the Planet, ‘incentivizing’ the Jobs of the Future, while putting some of the Profits from that Green Revolution, BACK into the Pockets of Consumers!