豆知识 2011-05-29&06-04 “总量管制和交易”的故事

 I am so glad that the world is finally getting together to stop climate change. When I first heard that our leaders were meeting to talk about solutions, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Didn’t you? Then I said, wait a minute, what exactly are they planning to do about this problem? So I looked into it. And I gotta tell you not all the solutions they’re working on are what I’d call solutions. In fact, the leading solution known as cap and trade or emissions² trading is actually a huge problem.

Now, I know this is the last thing you wanna hear, but the future of our planet is at stake, so we gotta take the time to understand what’s going on here. OK, meet the guys at the heart of this so-called solution. They include the guys from Enron who designed energy trading, and the Wall Street financiers like Goldman Sachs who gave us the subprime mortgage crisis. Their job is to develop brand new markets. They stake their claims and then when everyone and their grandmother wants in, they made off with huge amounts of money as the markets becomes a giant bubble and bursts. Well, their latest bubble just burst, and now they have a new idea for a market, trading carbon pollution. They’re about to develop a new three-trillion-dollar bubble, but when this one bursts, it won’t just take down our stock portfolios³, it could take down everything. 

So how does cap and trade work? Well, pretty much all serious scientists agree that we need to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million if we want to avoid climate disaster. In the US, that means reducing our emissions by 80%, maybe even more by 2050. 80%! Now the problem is that most of our global economy runs on burning fossil fuels which releases carbon: the factories that make all our staffs, the ships and trucks that carry it around the world, our cars and buildings and appliances, just about everything. So how are we gonna reduce carbon 80% and not go back to live in like little house on the prairie? Well, these cap and trade guys are saying that a new carbon stock market is the best way to get it done.

The first step would be getting governments around the world to agree on a yearly limit on carbon emissions. That is the cap. I think that part is great. So how do they wanna ensure that carbon emission¹ stay under the cap? Well, governments would distribute a certain amount of permits to pollute. Every year there would be fewer and fewer permits as we follow the cap to our goal. Innovative⁴ companies will get on board, building clean alternatives and getting more efficient. As permits get scarcer, they will also become more valuable, so naturally companies who have extra will want to sell them to companies who need them. That’s where the trading comes in.

The logic⁵ is that as long as we stay under the cap, it doesn’t matter who pollutes and who innovates⁶. We’ll meet our climate deadline, avoiding catastrophe⁷. And oh yeah, these guys take the fee as they broker⁸ this multi-trillion carbon racket, I mean market.

Save the planet, get rich, what’s not to like? Some of my friends really care about our future support cap and trade. A lot of environmental groups that I respect do too. They know it’s not a perfect solution, and they don’t love the idea of turning our planet’s future over to these guys, but they think that it’s an important first step and that it’s better than nothing. I’m not so sure, and I’m not the only one.

1 emission   

n.发出物，散发物；发出，散发

参考例句：

• Rigorous measures will be taken to reduce the total pollutant emission.采取严格有力措施，降低污染物排放总量。
• Finally,the way to effectively control particulate emission is pointed out.最后，指出有效降低颗粒排放的方向。

2 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

3 portfolios   

n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹

参考例句：

• Price risk arises in non-trading portfolios, as well as in trading portfolios. 价格风险中出现的非贸易投资，以及在贸易投资组合。 来自互联网
• How do we fatten our portfolios and stay financially healthy? 我们怎样育肥我们的投资结构和维持财政健康呢？ 来自互联网

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

6 innovates   

v.改革，创新( innovate的第三人称单数 )；引入（新事物、思想或方法），

参考例句：

• ADI innovates ceaselessly in signal processing area, success is remarkable. ADI在信号措置区域不竭立异，成就卓越。 来自互联网
• The region neither saves and invests sufficiently, nor educates and innovates enough. 该地区在储蓄和投资方面都不足，教育和创新方面也较落后。 来自互联网

7 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

8 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。