THE VILLAINS on Captain Planet were obviously Republicans. Wanting nothing but to destroy the ecosystem and make money doing it, the sinister characters on that Emmy-worthy cartoon truly embodied the environment-hating ideals of the GOP. President Bush, too, embraced this philosophy last week in his latest attempts to garner support for legislation that would allow businesses to purchase the right to pollute. Dr. Blight herself couldn't have come up with a more diabolical plan.
But wait, Planeteers. Don't combine your powers just yet.While the aforementioned legislation may not make sense when oversimplified in a compressed sound byte, this current item on Bush's environmental agenda carries definite merit. Dubbed the "Clear Skies" Initiative, the plan proposes to place limits on the total amount of certain harmful gases allowed to be emitted by individual power plants. Those plants operating under the legal limit would then be permitted to sell their remaining emissions allowances to others in the industry. Such a procedure is already in place for a narrower field of emissions. By applying the concept of emissions "credits" to a wider variety of harmful gases, Clear Skies would enable the government to reduce air pollution without having to impose unreasonably restrictive standards.Conservative talk radio pundit Neil Boortz claims that the environmentalist movement in America has been hijacked by socialists determined to overthrow the free market. While this is certainly an exaggeration, environmentalists do often fail to take into consideration the consequences their favored policies entail for the free market. The Clear Skies Initiative lacks such an anti-capitalist bias. It simultaneously looks out for the good of the environment, the power industry and the public.It is easy to see how the initiative would benefit the power industry. A system based solely on fixed emission caps would fail to be as flexible in dealing with individual plants in their various circumstances. If Clear Skies were to become a reality, plants would be able to weigh the costs of reducing their emissions against the potentially cheaper alternative of buying credits. In turn, those plants which are able to sustain the burden of generating emissions levels below the limit would be rewarded financially for their efforts. These plants would not, however, have an incentive to drop below the maximum allowable levels were they unable to sell off the rights to excess emissions. For this reason, the Clear Skies program would result in the same total amount of emissions as a blanket cap, though it would better accommodate the needs of the power companies.Despite the conventional wisdom, when businesses profit, so does the public at large. Any increased cost on behalf of an electrical provider translates to higher numbers on consumers' monthly power bills. A power plant with lower overhead costs can also afford to offer more competitive wages or hire more workers. These factors are important to note in the era of an economy whose health is questionable. Voices in opposition to Bush on the matter of Clear Skies have cited the fact that over the long run it calls for a lower reduction in emissions than the preexisting Clean Air Act of 1990. While technically true, this argument focuses on the intent of the Clean Air Act rather than the results. A specified goal to reduce emissions is nice, but any goal is ultimately irrelevant if it can never be reached. In the past decade, Clean Air Act provisions have been loosely enforced due to the complexity of the Act's regulations. The Clear Skies plan is a more streamlined approach that applies the same types of regulation to a variety of pollutants.Clear Skies is in fact modeled after the most successful part of the Clean Air Act, the Acid Rain Program. This program similarly involved a system of caps and credits and is one of the few portions of the 1990 act to have had a significant impact on reducing air pollution. Clear Skies is essentially an extension of a proven aspect of the Clean Air Act, not a step backward.
The government cannot successfully dictate environmental policy without considering economics. By working within the framework of a system of incentives, the Clear Skies Initiative would reconcile the realities of business with the goals of clean air. Captain Planet himself would be proud.
(Chris Kiser is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint Writer.)
Read More
GARVIE: Commend the University’s continuous care for the environment
By Adeline Garvie | 22 hours agoWe must applaud the University for the efforts they are continuously making to be more sustainable.
CARTER: Did anyone actually want VERVE?
By Nathaniel Carter | April 19, 2025While VERVE may shift student demand closer to Grounds, whether housing market effects will outweigh the harms of the University’s expanding presence is a gamble Charlottesville residents may not wish to take.
SCHENBERG: Our foreign students and colleagues deserve better
April 18, 2025I pray that we will not persecute now and atone later.
