In a message dated 12/9/98 3:16:28 PM Eastern Standard Time,
dave.stragand@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
<< Pollution credits are actually a very good idea, as it allows the free
market to
decide how best to reach a certain level of emissions across all modes of
polluters. >>
Dave,
I do agree that the idea of Pollution or Air Emission credits started out as
a good idea, but as with most good ideas, it ran amuck.
I personally filed air use permit applications (permit to install and permit
to operate) for a second tier automotive supplier. While Air Emission credits
were not available in Michigan at that time (not sure about now), some of the
training I recieved focused on these programs. What was happening was that
large companies in favorable cash positions were allowed to purchase emission
credits from companies that emitted less than their permitted amounts. This
begat the purchasing of small companies for their credits, and other abuses,
once again targeting small businesses with unstable production volumes and/or
poor cash flow. Then the idea came up about crushing cars. Take that 20
year old clunker off the road, and imagine the positive impact on the
environment!! Well, just how many "old clunkers" do you actually see putting
down any appreciable amounts of mileage annually? You see a few belching
smoke here and there, but they are not the collectors, collectables, or the
ones that were sitting behind the barn last week in Pennsylvania. Again, it
would take many cars weeks to equal the Volatile Organics emissions from most
small industrial facilities in a day, but, it was cheap, it was visible (Look!
we're doing something about the air!), and it diverted attention from the
major polluters. Another ill concieved, poorly executed, fix-of-the-day plan.
I'll dig out my information tonight and spread it around.
Steve
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