The Sale of Cap'n Tax Indulgences for Climate Sins

The Waxman-Markey Cap & Trade legislation revives the concept of "indulgences" -- little permissions to engage in environmental CO2 sin -- only they are called offsets.

The government becomes the environmental priesthood, granting these CO2 indulgences so that you can "offset" your carbon footprint.

Big business has already lobbied Congress for a good portion of these, and the farm lobby got in there too and made sure that big outfits like Cargill and Monsanto would be protected with indulgences, er, offsets.

Sprueill and Williamson explain

No.5 -- The Selling of CO2 Indulgences

In fact, nearly all of Waxman-Markey’s carbon-reduction targets can be met with offsets alone through 2050, meaning decades before any actual reduction of greenhouse gases is required. That means huge new expenses for small businesses and consumers in return for basically zero environmental improvement.

And how does one earn an offset to sell? Get a farm and cash in through such methods as, and we quote, “improved manure management,” “reduced tillage/no-tillage,” or “afforestation of marginal farmlands.” Translation: Plant some trees around the house and claim some extra credits on the land the government may already be paying you not to farm.

And do a better job of handling your B.S. — but you’ll never do as good a job on that one as the authors of Waxman-Markey.

Zero environmental improvement through the year 2050 A.D.

But this is a crisis, right? Such an impending disaster that Nancy Pelosi had to force a vote without a reading of the vile details of the bill.

B---S--- is absolutely how this smells.