The Loudenia Crier

Virtual expert witness Brad Hall, U.S. intercollegiate policy debate champion and climate advisor to Al Gore, contributes this testimony on the pending China environment bill:

Dear Loudenians,

Greetings! This is an exciting time for Loudenia and I am proud to be part of its development as a global leader.

I applaud your forward thinking on the issues of environmental degradation and specifically climate change, an issue that threatens international survival and stability in the coming years. Your legislation as written is quite good though I have several suggestions for improvements or modifications you might make.

You might consider being more specific about “alternative sources of energy and environmentally friendly practices.” There are many technologies currently being promoted by the fossil fuel industries (such as “clean coal”) that might not actually provide environmental benefits if widely adopted. Similarly, as the debate in the United States over agricultural subsidies shows, industry and environmental groups often have varying opinions of what is an environmentally friendly practice.

I really like the portion of your legislation that directs the money collected from taxes into environmental research programs (this is often referred to as “revenue recycling”). You might also consider directing a portion of these taxes toward helping lower-income communities comply with reductions in fossil fuel-based technologies. Environmental regulations are often considered to have a regressive impact – meaning that regulations disproportionately impact the poor because they have less income to spend on higher energy bills.

A few other issues you might consider:
–China and other developing countries are unlikely to make dramatic reductions on their own, so it might be fruitful for Loudenia to take the first step and establish a large domestic program that dramatically reduces CO2 emissions.
–When debating this legislation, I would urge you to keep in mind the current state of energy in the world: oil, gas and coal prices are skyrocketing and contributing to global economic decline. As a result, making a switch to cleaner energy technologies is not only economically viable (as the cost of renewably energy comes down), but it is increasingly an economically beneficial move.

Best,
Brad