Climate Wars: Nick Stern Threatens U.S. With Trade Boycott
Ben Webster
The United States will be banned from selling goods to many countries if it continues to shirk its promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to the world’s leading climate change economist.
In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said that nations that were taking strong action on emissions could start imposing restrictions on “dirty” US exports by 2020.
Lord Stern, who advises several G20 leaders and is one of the key players in the international negotiations seeking a deal on emissions, made his comments ten days before the annual United Nations climate change conference opens in Cancun, Mexico. They reflect the feeling in many countries that a lack of action on emissions in the US is delaying progress in the talks.
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Lord Stern said that Europe and the Far East (sic) were forging ahead of the US in controlling emissions and switching to low carbon sources of energy. They would not tolerate having their industries undermined by American competitors that had not paid for their emissions. “If you are charging properly for carbon and other people are not, you will take that into account,” he said. “Many of the more forward-looking people in the US are thinking about this. If they see a danger on the trade front to US exports that could influence public discussion.”
Asked what type of US products could face restrictions, Lord Stern said: “Aircraft, clearly, some cars, machine tools — it’s not simply what’s in the capital good, it’s what kind of processes the capital good is facilitating.”
Lord Stern said that a complete ban on some goods was also possible. He said the American people should overcome their historical antipathy to taxation and accept that emissions needed to be controlled either through a tax or a trading scheme.
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This is simply unbelievable! So, China etc are “polluting” less? What planet is he on? Pity snow won’t fall on Cancun …. please, please let it snow.
Seriously, this man has caused all sorts of damage with his estimates that its better to trash western economies than adapt to whatever warming there may be, and on the assumption that cutting emissions will work anyway.
I don’t like cold but a cold NH winter may slow the CAGW/Change/disruption train a little.
Stern admits that adopting the logic of AGW destroys economies.
Stern’s emissions are more toxc than CO2 ever was
So now we can add trade wars to the list economy destroying costs that will follow the imposition of stricter limits on CO2 emissions. But, but, what about all the green jobs that will be created? LMAO.
I wonder where Stern has his investments. One can readily see his socialist tendencies as he clearly is encouraging trade embargoes.
Wow, that would be great; the reciprocal complete trade ban on imports would be the single largest job creation and wealth retention move of all time.
The Unites States (senate killed climate bill) and Canada (senate killed climate bill) would have to go it alone for all manufactured goods. Cars, Shoes, Televisions, Phones, Aircraft, Machinery, Computers, Wine, Spirits, Appliances, etc; all the stuff North America currently imports, the stuff that used to be made in North America before the jobs were shipped overseas.
North America would have full employment.
Of course the rest of the world would get a bit hungry in about 40 days, but that is their decision.
It would be wonderful.
The United States Largest Trading Partner is Canada
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_the_United_States
Canada’s Largest Trading Partner is the United States
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_Canada
Together the United States and Canada have enough natural resource (energy, water, minerals, lumber, etc) to keep going for a long, long, long time.
Bring it on!
Lord Stern said that Europe and the Far East (sic) were forging ahead of the US in controlling emissions and switching to low carbon sources of energy. They would not tolerate having their industries undermined by American competitors that had not paid for their emissions.
The “Far East” is controlling its emissions? Does that include China where they are building new coal fired generators almost on a daily basis?
It seems that Stern is confusing paying for emissions with controlling emissions. The EU and a few other countries have damaged their economies and now demand that the US do the same to level the playing field.
Ah yes, it’s not about the environment – it’s about redistributing wealth.
Stern is missing the main point though. Given that India, China and the USA are not interested in CO2 mitigation (unless we transfer wealth to them in compensation), we are left with Europe pretty much raising its own trade barriers against everyone else. He seems to be under the impression it’s the US against the rest of the world. Well, it’s quite the opposite!
There’s sod-all from the US on sale here in the UK as it is. In fact there is sod-all from the UK on sale here either. Instead, the stores are crammed with goods made in China, so I can’t imagine why Lord Stern doesn’t single China out as the dirty producer to end them all.
I long ago gave up trying to avoid buying Chinese tat because it’s completely displaced better quality products in the marketplace. If Lord Stern can impede the flow of sub-standard rubbish into this country even if his reasons are silly, I’d be quite happy.
So is he proposing to ban import of rare earth metals (critical to almost all green technologies) from China because of the filthy, polluting industrial processes used in their extraction and refining, or is communist pollution somehow more acceptable than capitalist pollution?
There isn’t a single European country in which such a ludicrous idea would get any support. The EU is already fighting for its existence as it is. Any kind of trade war (with our only real ally!) or even hint of a trade war will tip it over the edge. The AGW nutters have now completely lost grip on reality…
This sounds like the bluster of a desperate man. Likely he is heavily invested in European Carbon Credits, and sees the market is about to tank.
Lord Stern is global warming fanatic. He has been calling the shots in the UK on emissions (CO2) reductions for years and firmly believes that the UK will be under water before long. He is an economist however with very little grasp of the science – a kind of English Al Gore – without the Peace Prize.
I think Europe should keep its gas guzzling Mercedes and Volvos and BMWs.
While they are at it they can keep their stinking AirBuses as well.
We could dress up as Green Weenies and dump their carbon permits into Boston Harbor and…nah, it’s been done before. They lost that time, too.
Lord Stern,
We will remember this if the United States ever has to come to the aid of your country again. Imagine if we had kept our dirty exports of tanks, guns, ships and planes during WWI and WWII?
1) He’s making the wrong assumption that if CO2 were indeed a problem, the solution is that “emissions needed to be controlled either through a tax or a trading scheme”. Typical government taxation knee-jerk to a technical and economic problem. There are lots of ways to reduce CO2 production that do not include taxation or trading. For example, expedited permits for nuke power plants, like the Asians are doing now (24 in construction in China, 6 in Korea, 2 in Japan, 0 in US). Every coal plant blows about 20,000 tons CO2 per day and the US has hundreds of coal plants.
2) The US should charge the EU for the CO2 emissions from train transport of goods across the US on their way from Pacific Rim factories to Europe. Currently, most shipping is too big for the Panama Canal, so containers from Asia are unloaded at US western ports, travel to the Atlantic coast on the railroads, then loaded onto ships to Europe.
3) This is a hidden subsidy for Airbus. Notice his first industry to penalize is aircraft. That’s Boeing, folks.
4) The US needs to charge China for the CO2 emissions of cement production. The US is a major exporter of cement to China, and cement production generates large amounts of CO2. After all, China will not be held accountable as Lord Stern wants the US to be.
And just today, Drudge posts a study showing one-in-five are mentally ill.
I think the USA should cut itself off from the rest of the world for 5 years completely and totally.
Our electronic technological innovation spills out of our country like a geyser, and the rest of the world gets our technology to use practically for free.
Can you imagine how much more technologically advanced the United states would be than the rest of the planet on day one after the 5 year self imposed moratorium on giving away our knowledge?
At the end of the 5 year period, our technology would be worth 100 times more to the world, and then we could actually get the money that it is worth than we are getting for our intellectual knowledge today.
What a maroon.
After England pillaged the world (back then…) now they want to redistribute other people’s wealth. Lord Stern needs to be reminded that India and Canada are part of the Empire, the Commonwealth. Those measures won’t go very far and fall in the Thames waters.
You will need another INDEPENDENCE WAR !!! 🙂
Inbreeding within this class has apparently taken its toll.
Stern is promising a trade war. This is a transparent threat. Lord Stern should be arrested and imprisoned for economic terrorism.
Of course the USA could just drill it’s own oil, mine it’s own coal and grow it’s own food. One of the unique advantages of being a continent. Look at all the jobs that would create. And think how easy it would be for us to just build our own nuclear power plants … One of the advantages smart people have.
All they want is they think we are going to give the scammers money so they can play God with the world’s less fortunate people. It’s the ruse of tyrants throughout the ages.