Democrat Wants Protectionism In Climate Change Bill
This is going to be a big, big headache for proponents of cap and trade. Senator Max Baucus wants provisions in the climate change bill that put tariffs on goods imported from countries that don’t similarly punish carbon emissions. Why? Because by punishing emissions here in the United States we are inevitably going to drive up the price of US goods and services, and Baucus doesn’t want Americans saving any money by buying from foreign companies.
“We must push our trading partners to do their part to curb harmful emissions and we must devise a border measure, consistent with our international obligations, to prevent the carbon leakage that would occur if US manufacturing shifts to countries without effective climate change programs.”
The problem with bringing this up is that it tacitly admits that cap and trade is going to ramp up the cost of goods and services. And it also illustrates the “rock and a hard place” position it would put the economy in.
On one hand, if the cap and trade doesn’t contain the protectionism Senator Baucus wants companies (and all the jobs and prosperity they create) are just going to flee the country and sell us their goods from more business-and-production friendly environs. If the does does slap tariffs on goods imported from non-carbon-caped nations, then it exacerbates an already dire problem with the prices of goods and services going up. If American markets are denied products from places like China, access to low-cost goods is going to become scarce.
Meaning the purchasing power of your dollar is going to go down as prices go up.
Even Obama understands this is a bad thing. Protectionism may be good when you’re campaigning for union votes or among the economically illiterate (same thing, really), but in the real world protectionism doesn’t do anyone any good.
