What happens when you make it too painful financially for a company to do business in your country?
Jeroen van der Veer, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, has given warning that a proposed European Union scheme to force companies to pay for carbon emissions permits previously handed out free threatens to destroy Europe’s petrochemicals and refining industry.
Mr van der Veer told The Times that the EU needed to be careful not to trigger an exodus of European jobs and investment offshore with no net reduction in global emissions.
The problem is that the European Union is trying to cut carbon dioxide emissions by increasing the cost of emissions permits to oil refineries, airlines and other sectors. From 2013 to 2020, the EU plans to increase the cost by 100%.
And of course, this is all in the name of halting climate change. Peter Madden, chief executive of Forum for the Future, the sustainable development charity, dismissed the warnings of van der Veer, saying:
“The EU emissions trading scheme is the most important initiative we currently have in the world to tackle climate change. Our major companies need to be getting behind it and investing in a low-carbon future and not trying to undermine positive action.â€
Madden thinks that Shell and others won’t leave, but the fact is:
Shell has sold three of its refineries in France because of concerns over profitability.
They won’t hesitate to leave again, nor should they. This is going to result in the little guys getting punished for the common good.
Blame Shell? No, blame the proponents of the Church of Global Warming. Remember the words of EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstroem, who said the Kyoto Protocol “is not a simple environmental issue, where you can say scientists are not unanimous. This is about international relations, this is about the economy, about trying to create a level playing field for big businesses throughout the world.”
This isn’t just about the climate, but about a method of instituting socialism. From the same article:
French President Jacques Chirac has termed the Kyoto Protocol “the first component of authentic global governance.”
All three of our potential candidates are members of the Church of Global Warming. How long before we remain the sole holdout on Kyoto? How long after that will the oil executives become residents of Galt’s Gulch?
