John Tierney reports on an idea to link carbon tax increases to future global temperatures. The idea is that if warming doesn't happen, there won't be a tax, while if it does happen, the tax will phase in at higher and higher levels.
But if the climate models are correct, Dr. McKitrick calculates, within a decade his formula would cause the tax to at least double and possibly sextuple — with further increases on the way if the atmosphere kept heating. The prospect would give immediate pause to any investors trying to decide today what kind of cars, power plants and other long-range energy projects to finance. To estimate future profits, they would need to study climate.
Uhhhh....
Wouldn't this scheme pretty much guarantee that some crazy, Bond-villain-level billionaire would cook up a half-baked scheme to trigger a gigantic volcanic eruption to cool the planet?
You know, like how Zorin tried to break the San Andreas fault. Oooh -- and Lex Luthor. Or worse, a few well-placed nuclear explosions could inject enough material into the stratosphere to arrest tropical temperature increases for several years.
Just asking....
UPDATE (2009-12-15): The first stages?
The head of a geothermal energy company has gone on trial in Switzerland accused of damaging property by triggering earthquakes.
Better watch to see who is shorting wind generation and solar energy stocks...
