I didn’t get the memo, but apparently it’s time to start making You Tube videos explaing cap and trade.
First up, via Yglesias, who got it from Dave Roberts, here’s Captain Dividend explaining the cap and dividend approach in less than 2 minutes.
And in this corner, via my colleague Anna, here’s the Sierra Club’s Carl Pope on why giving away free permits is tantamount to bribery. He’ll do it in 47 seconds flat:
I’ve got to admit that I’m not wild about either one of these presentations. (Nothing against the substance, mind you; I think the explanations are perfectly accurate.) But what do readers think?
Am I wrong? Or is it just that cap and trade doesn’t lend itself to You Tube? Is there a better way to get this stuff across in less than 2 minutes?
Alan Durning
I like them both, especially the Cap n Dividend one.
Alex
Hey, they stole the idea of a captain from me.Frankly I’m confused. Which part of cap and trade is bribery?
Andy Andersson
Captain Dividend says it better than any lengthy explanation I have seen. This is a good way of selling the concept to the public while serious climate-policy actors worry about the details of how to act.
derek
Alex, “bribery” implies that by giving permits away (the initial allocation) it creates a positive incentive (reward) for pollutors to comply. Alternatively, by selling permits from the beginning, pollutors are provided with a disincentive (punishment) for noncompliance. It depends to large extent on the incentive mechanisms used and the regulatory environment in place.
Yoram
I like them both fine, except that Carl Pope is wrong about the the cost of cap-and-trade being related to the cost of sequestering carbon.
morgan
Really. Where did Carl get that? After listening a couple times, I’m guessing that Carl is delicately implying that auction revenues should be directed toward restoring sink capacity, as opposed to abatement, technological investment or indemnification. “polluters should pay to fix the ecological damage”. Everyone is eagerly eying auction revenues, and he is no different. Though, I find this line of argument politically isolating, especially during a time when intermingling among movements is very useful and needed.