The UNFCCC COP 21 meeting in Paris this coming December is designed to establish an agreement whereby:
(1) Developed nations, including the United States, agree to dramatically cut CO2 emissions, and
(2) An annual $100 billion development fund is established where developed countries, including the United States, pay into the fund, and the fund administrators dispense money from the fund to undeveloped nations, including China and India, so they can mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Obama administration is working hard to convince Americans this is a good idea. It is using the regulations established by the EPA to demonstrate to other countries that the United States is serious about cutting CO2 emissions and is seriously interested in establishing such an agreement.
Since the United States Senate ratified the UNFCCC treaty in 1992, and it was signed into law by President Bush, we are more or less bound to adhere to the outcome of any COP meeting.
COP is the acronym for the Council of Parties, the governing body of the UNFCCC which is comprised of 195 countries who are signatories to the UNFCCC treaty. Each country has one vote, so the United States stands at the mercy of all other countries, including those that are fundamentally opposed to the United States, such as Iran, Venezuela and North Korea.
Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, made it very clear that any agreement made in Paris is actually an agreement to change the economic system of the world, not merely cut CO2 emissions, when she said:
“This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model, for the first time in human history.” (Emphasis added.)
The world’s economic model is based on capitalism.
And Naomi Klein said, “Forget everything you think you know about global warming. It’s not about carbon — it’s about capitalism.”
Many believe that as long as the Senate is controlled by Republicans, programs agreed to in Paris by the UNFCCC can’t be implemented.
Unfortunately, that is a naive view contrary to what is already happening in the United States.
First, the president can, and has, issued executive orders, and implemented regulations, primarily through the EPA, requiring the adoption of actions to cut CO2 emissions.
Second, what happens in California doesn’t stay in California. There exists a strategy underway today, an infiltration or co-opting strategy, that bypasses Congress. Its intent is to have other states adopt regulations similar to those adopted by California, such as cap & trade, and renewable portfolio standards mandating the use of wind and solar generated electricity.
There is, therefore, a movement already in place to force Americans to comply with regulations that result in the reduction of CO2 emissions. It’s not necessary for Congress to act.
This point was made clear by Tiffany Roberts, a person who has worked in California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, where she authored reports on traditional and alternative energy policies and California’s cap-and-trade program, when she spoke at the recent Tenth International Conference on Climate Change in Washington DC.
Ms. Roberts pointed out that most people in California do not know they are subject to a cap & trade program that is increasing their costs for electricity and everything that uses electricity to produce the final product or service.
This picture, and additional comments from Ms. Roberts presentation, shows the pervasiveness of the cap & trade legislation and how it even affects companies outside California. She said there are 650 California companies subject to cap & trade, which covers 85% of California’s economy.
California’s recent eleventh cap & trade auction brought in around $1 billion, all of which had to eventually come out of the pockets of ordinary citizens. It’s estimated that cap & trade revenue will be over $2 billion in 2020, which will also come from ordinary citizens.
Unfortunately, it’s people at the lower end of the economic ladder who will be hurt the most, because they use a disproportionate amount of their income on basics, such as gasoline, electricity and food.
But the California cancer is spreading.
A similar cap & trade program has been established in New England covering 9 states.
Renewable portfolio standards have been established in 30 states.
The intent is to bypass Congress and go from state to state to implement programs that would meet the CO2 reduction objectives to be spelled out in the forthcoming Paris UNFCCC agreement.
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