...JUST AS LONG AS I HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR IT.American Thinker Blog: Carbon credits: indulgence or commutation fee?: "The ability of wealthy individuals like Al Gore to purchase what amounts to rights to pollute by buying carbon credits is a repulsive moral dodge, demanding us to consider useful analogies. One comparison that has occurred to many is the sale of Papal Indulgences that so infuriated Martin Luther. Taxprof picked up on this analgy in commenting on the 'get out of jail free' card for pollution guilt that was part of the gift bag given to all Academy Awards presenters. But I think there is another good analogy, much closer to hand, both geographically and temporally.
During the Civil War, it was possible for well-to-do men who were drafted to pay a $300 "commutation fee" and escape the draft. The move sparked much public outrage, creating the impression that the war was a "rich man's war" and probably contributing to the disgraceful draft riots in New York City, which led to the lynching of African Americans.
It seems to me that the purchase of carbon credits is a direct imitation of commutation fee. I don't expect to see SUV-deprived soccer moms lunching the wealthy outside of fixed base operator terminals at haunts of private jet-setters like Teterboro and Santa Monica Airports, but I do expect public revulsion to rise and rise, as sacrifices demanded of ordinary people are evaded by the wealthy. The war on global warming seems very much a "rich man's war.""
Want to read up about carbon credits? If you're a leftist and want to read about what a joke they are from a leftist source, go to Slate |
