Letters to the Editor
-
Cap and trade = extinction
It is becoming painfully obvious from the latest climate data that America must reduce its emissions by 80-90% over the next 15 years in order to avoid the worst "tipping points" of climate change. Since the top 15% of wealth holders are virtually immune to price changes and also use disproportionate amounts of energy, cap and trade or, indeed, any other market-concept route to emission reduction can not prevent catastrophic climate change.
So, what can we do? I think it is time to take a lesson from our past, specifically from the last time America thought its existence was threatened. During WWII we put quotas on many goods in order to use our resources for the war effort. It is time to put household quotas on liquid fuels and grid power. These quotas should be nontradable and could be implemented immediately.
Sadly, it looks like given the choice between driving our way to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and extinction or walking/busing/training/cycling our way to sustainability, most Americans are choosing the former.