Just as the Obama administration and its allies in Congress try to ram through cap and trade legislation, European countries are moving to exempt entire industries from the regulation lest they simply relocate their operations to more business-friendly nations. The Financial Times reports:
So the largest energy users in Germany are to be exempted from any carbon tax system, but Democrats in Washington are devoting their full attention to imposing just such a system on struggling industries here in the United States — and they’re pointing to Europe as the model! No doubt any legislation the Democrats produce will likewise be full of holes for big business, leaving the little guy to carry most of the tax burden, but if Europe is the model, it is cause for some relief to see that even the Europeans are not prepared to commit economic suicide for the sake of reducing emissions. Whatever systems the Democrats put in place in this country, the moment people start losing jobs and bearing the heavy costs they were told would never come due, it won’t be but one election cycle until the whole thing comes apart.
