True North

Al got his Peace Prize. A bunch of people got to go to Bali and make dire pronouncements. Politicians of every stripe know a bandwagon when they see one. If we weren't all in danger of burning up or flooding out I'd be worried about that big snowball rolling downhill. What's all of this really about?

Two things. Power. Money.

How are these twin goals achieved? In the classic manner, a power grab through taxation. Al and his buddies have been touting a "carbon tax" for years. The idea is catching on in the global community, and for good reason. This could be the greatest wealth redistribution scheme in history.

Domestically, a carbon tax would be assessed at points of supply, refineries, power plants, and industries. The cost of this tax would naturally be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices for goods, services, electricity, home heating, food, etc. The theory is the increased cost would drive efficiencies and new technologies. The hand that holds the purse strings holds the power.

But now the U.N. wants in on the scam. Since this is a global "crisis", we need to take a global approach. This approach would take the form of taxing wealthy countries for their emissions and transferring that wealth to developing and poor countries to improve their technologies. Think "Oil For Food" times 1,000,000. Or more.

The kicker is enforcement. Someone has to make sure that Croatia isn't fudging on it's carbon confession. Who's going to audit China? What happens when a nation like Venezuela says "Screw this. We ain't paying"? Does the world go to war over carbon taxes? Does the U.N. send in the Carbon Measurement Brigade to examine every smokestack and tailpipe?

There are two inevitable results of the current course, which is entirely political in nature. First will be economic devastation for the industrialized world. Second will be a dreadful increase in the power of the United Nations, a corrupt and incompetent institution.

Those who are positioning themselves to be the lords of the Novus Ordo Seclorum are suspect, if not simply evil. Those who have embraced anthropogenic climate change from altruistic motivation seem to be blind to these inevitable outcomes.

Cross-posted at Anti-Strib.