I haven't checked your figures on Germany, other than they only get about 25% of their power from coal.
The residential increase is only part of the equation. If we assume a 10% increase in the cost of residential energy means that individuals now have that amount funds less to spend on "stuff". But where it becomes more significant is that it also means a minimum 10% increase in the costs of everything. As California has found (but not learned), when you overtax business, those businesses will look for cheaper places to get the job done. If the U.S. has an energy tax increase of 10% across the board, businesses will go to countries that don't have the cap and trade restrictions. This means more U.S. jobs going to China and India. And now we are on the slippery slope of more unemployed Americans, who will require more entitlement programs which will require more taxes which will drive more businesses out of the U.S.
And then you have to ask, why? The link between global warming and CO2 is specious. In fact, the whole global warming movement is a farce. The earth has been cooling for 11 years now, in spite of ever increasing CO2 levels. Sometimes the heating and cooling of the earth correlates to CO2 levels, sometimes not. But it always correlates to the energy that the sun is emitting.
To switch the concern to "climate change" is a joke. Guess what, for the entire history of the earth, the climate has changed. |
