Wellington is debating a cap-and-trade scheme to meet its Kyoto Protocol targets. Because New Zealand is already a low carbon-dioxide emitter, the bulk of its emissions come from agricultural sources, such as sheep. So the government is proposing to implement caps not only on carbon dioxide from industry but also on methane and nitrous oxide from farms.
The cost, for farmers and industry alike, is likely to be prohibitive, says the Journal:
• The government's plan would result in 22,000 job losses by 2012, or 1 percent of today's employment, according to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research
• That translates into NZ $4.6 billion (about U.S. $3.6 billion) annually in lost gross domestic product (GDP), or a NZ $3,000 (about U.S. $1,536) cut in each household's annual spending.
This analysis assumes that as greenhouse gas fees make Kiwi industry less competitive globally, businesses and jobs will move overseas. The government disputes this conclusion, mainly because its own analyses assume New Zealanders will be willing to take lower wages, says the Journal.
[the physics of economics applies to all nations and the math is the same: subjecting ourselves to the Kyoto scam (or anything like it) will require some combination of Americans working for less or unemployed]
READ MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment