Kyoto credits - now you can buy them online :)

Welcome to my blog :) I wonder if many bloggers started their blogs by offering guests a lovely certificate, just like the one above... Isn't that a great idea -- just for $5 you could get a real Kyoto Credit certificate, put it on the wall (the frame is going to cost you couple bucks plus tax at the nearest dollar store) and be prould that you, yes, you have personally contributed to the fight against global warming. You may as well purchase some more credits and send them to your friends which neglect the issue of Global Warming. Let them see what just one committed man can do! Let them be ashamed of themselves!

But will it actually reduce emissions? Of course it won't! Just like the real Kyoto credits. After all -- what do these credits actually represent? They represent our right to pollute. The idea is simple: if Canadian companies can't reduce emissions they can just purchase emission credits from countries that have already achieved (if not overachieved) their Kyoto targets so they can keep polluting at some other country's expense. But will it actually reduce the number of smog days in Toronto? If we pay some other country to take the blame for air pollution from Canadian cities, will it make the air any cleaner?

But maybe that will permit us to implement the "revenue neutral tax shift" which is proposed by the Green party? Not really. The funds spent on Kyoto credits will not go to Ottawa; they'll go to the developing world, to the countries that have little or no industries, giving these countries some more incentives not to become self-sufficient. There will be no increase in the federal government revenues. Moreover -- as businesses face higher production costs (and as they pass them to the consumers) we'll see decline in production, sales and exports. The government revenues will shrink and instead of the "revenue neutral tax shift" we might as well face a tax hike.

Another thing that must be remembered -- the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Kyoto don't take into consideration the population increase. Since 1990 Canada has accepted ~3 million immigrants from all over the world. They live in Canada yet Canada gets no credit for them. About 1.3 million immigrants are expected to come by 2012 and hundreds of thousands of children will be born. Canadain population which used to be ~27 millions back in 1990 will reach 34 millions or so. That's why Canada's greenhouse gas emissions go up, not down. A "6% reduction from 1990 level" would mean nearly 25% GHG reduction per capita. Does someone still believe that could be achieved in just 5 years?

Many politicians want Canada to commit to Kyoto targets and make up the difference by buying emission credits. They are eager to waste billions on useless green certificates. But why should we let them?