The Copenhagen Climate Summit is not going well. The main hurdle seems to be China. They basically do not agree with allowing the international community to “verify” if countries are living up to their carbon emission targets. This really should not come as a surprise. The Chinese have become a manufacturing powerhouse due to their disregard for environmental regulation and the impact of pollution on their own country let alone the rest of the world. There is nothing transparent about the Chinese regime or economy. The question is, what does all of this mean for the green economy and the rest of the nations represented at Copenhagen?
| One answer could be for the rest of world to sign an accord without the Chinese and other dissenters. The main opposition to this would be from countries such as the United States where Republicans would portray this as the American economy suffering with higher energy costs and losing jobs to China. I would suggest a trade agreement between signatories to a climate deal which would impose a “carbon tax” on imports from non-participating countries. This would ensure that products produced by low-cost, high polluting technology would not be able to undercut responsibly produced goods, forcing these companies out of business. Some may oppose such a tax by arguing that the Chinese would no longer hold American debt (they are the United States’ largest creditor). This may actually be good thing for the US. It would devalue the US dollar to a point where exports would rise, as a result jobs would be created, and goods from China and other countries would have to compete on more than just a cost basis. |
If no agreement is reached at all, does it spell disaster for the green economy? I don’t think so. Energy security is still a huge issue for many countries in Europe and the United States as well. The reports of Iran seizing an oil well in Iraq this morning brings this to the forefront, not to mention Europe being at the mercy of Russia for the natural gas it desperately needs to have heat during the winter. Alternative energy is still very important to energy security.
An agreement in Copenhagen would be a great boost to the “green” economy but failure to reach a global concensus is by no means a harbinger of doom for green jobs.
