Saving The Environment (for dummies)

Everybody wants to save the planet, right? (except if you are an alien life-form bent on pillaging then destroying earth…see picture here)

But it seems everybody has a different idea how to help our fragile planet. This leaves us dummies at USDemocrazy terribly confused. (not an uncommon occurrence)

Fortunately, Annie Leonard, the maker of “The Story of Stuff”, has helped us out a little bit.

She has a new cartoon video explaining (and criticizing) a certain “green” policy titled “The Story of Cap and Trade”. (see above)

Cap and trade is an economic policy to reduce green house emissions. Each year companies are allotted permits for a certain amount of carbon emissions. This controls pollution for that year, and every year the total amount of permits are reduced.

Though they’d never admit it, conservative pundit Glen Beck and environmentalist Annie Leonard actually agree on something.

But it’s not the happy handshake kind of agreement. Both are thinking green, just a different kind of green.

Beck favors the light-olive-green of a dollar bill, and Leonard more natural shade of the environment.

Beck argues cap and trade does WAY to much to restrict the free market. Leonard thinks this is a bad solution and does WAY to little to address the problem of global warming.

It’s an “I agree with you but I disagree with everything you stand for” kind of thing.

“The story of Cap and Trade” explains the flaws with a cap and trade solution to global warming. Leonard explains that while the system is good in theory there are three major flaws.

Free Permits:

• Permits are given to polluters. The trade of these permits cause fluctuation in energy prices and leads to a net increase of pollution.

Offsets:

• If a company offsets carbon emissions it can get an offset permit, which it sells to other companies. However, sometimes companies fake offsetting.

Distraction:

• Using a half measure like cap and trade makes everyone think all is well when the problem continues to grow.