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Fighting Climate Change With Trade
mdsolar writes with this story about the possible elimination of tariffs on environmental goods between the world's largest economic powers. The United States, the European Union, China and 11 other governments began trade negotiations this week to eliminate tariffs on solar panels, wind turbines, water-treatment equipment and other environmental goods. If they are able to reach an agreement, it could reduce the cost of equipment needed to address climate change and help increase American exports. Global trade in environmental goods is estimated at $1 trillion a year and has been growing fast. (The United States exported about $106 billion worth of such goods last year.) But some countries have imposed import duties as high as 35 percent on such goods. That raises the already high cost of some of this equipment to utilities, manufacturers and, ultimately, consumers. Taken together, the countries represented in these talks (the 28 members of the E.U. negotiate jointly, while China and Hong Kong are represented by separate delegations) account for about 86 percent of trade in these products, which makes the potential benefit from an agreement substantial. Other big countries that are not taking part in these talks, like India, South Africa and Brazil, could choose to join later.
agreed, I dont buy into the AGW religion but i am happy to buy things that are cleaner for the world when I can afford them. Making solar panels and other green tech cheaper is always good by anyones standards.
The only people I would think would be against this is the governments collecting the tarriffs
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
You don't and wont get it because you are not thinkibg like a true American liberal progresive.
You see, a premise to most of them is that taxes are an entitlement for others and government programs. Any reduction is a boom for the rich and harm for the poor. If you reduce tariffs only on some products, you are by default relying on taxes from the others for this entitlement. This now becomes a government subsidy in their minds purely because the other products still tariffed do not suffer from the same lack of government interference. So tax breaks are always subsidies because those effected do not pay their fair share.
Forget the logic that lack of involvement means less interference. Even if you support the intended goals. I personally think this is an outstanding way to encourage adoption of these technologies. And i should note that i'm typically called a denyer because i don't buy into the doomsday prophecies and think the problems if ever realized would be better dealt with as technology advances and over the long period of time it will take to have the sort of dooms day problems.