[Ransium]

Environmental - All Industries

The World Assembly,

Acknowledging that within some member nations, the concept of global warming due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases remains controversial,

Convinced, however, that the preponderance of the scientific evidence shows that some 'greenhouse gases', such as carbon dioxide and methane, allow energy through a planet's atmosphere at the visible and shortwave infrared wavelengths primarily generated by stars while reflecting energy at longwave thermal wavelengths radiated by a planet, thus creating a warming effect for that planet's atmosphere,

Concerned over the litany of direct and indirect negative impacts scientific consensus has found this warming to have on ecosystems and populations, including more extreme natural disasters: such as droughts, fire, heat waves, hurricanes, and flooding; disruption and temporal shifting of seasonal cycles at a rate faster than many organisms can adapt, sea level rise and acidification; crop failures; and desertification,

Aware that many member nation's economies are built around fossil fuels and desiring to seek a solution that is minimally disruptive to economies while addressing this pressing problem,

Feeling that the most efficient and cheapest regulatory framework to abate greenhouse gasses is one that caps the total amount of emissions and divvies up credits the allowable emissions among nations while allowing the voluntary trading of emissions credits between nations,

Hereby,

Establishes the Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Authority (GGRA) and empowers it to regulate emissions of greenhouse gasses in the following manner:

Set total global annual release caps for greenhouse gasses such as carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide, based on current global emissions, scientific climate models for the impact of the gasses, decay rate of the gasses, and the global economic impact of the cap;

Distribute allowable emissions credits for each regulated greenhouse gas among nations proportional to their total populations and present economic output, the global population, and the global cap;

Establish (i) punitive fees for emissions beyond the cap for member nations, and, (ii) tariffs on the trade goods produced by non-member nations which all member nations shall enforce, the proceeds of both will first go to GRAA's monitoring and enforcement efforts and any remaining monies will go towards grants to fund the research, development, and implementation of green energy;

Establish an exchange for the trade of emissions credits among nations and private organizations, such that some member nations may exceed their initially allotted emission without punishment via buying credits from other nations or private organizations;

Create an annual schedule of diminishing total global caps for various gasses until a level felt to be globally sustainable based on scientific models is met;

Monitor the net emissions of individual nations taking into account both greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration;

Charges individual nations with determining the best means of meeting their emission caps internally; and;

Clarifies that greenhouse gas emissions through natural sources, such as volcanoes, will not be considered by GRAA.

Co-authored by @imperium_anglorum

[Bears Armed]

Okay, here goes:

remove this = Remove this
normal font = Add this
[italics] = My comments

____________________________________________________________________________________

Greenhouse Gas Cap and Trade Program
Post by Ransium » Mon Sep 03, 2018 6:21 am
Environmental - All Industries (Strong)

The World Assembly,

Acknowledging that within some member nations, the concept of global warming due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases remains controversial,

Convinced, however, that the preponderance of the scientific evidence shows that some 'greenhouse gases', such as carbon dioxide and methane, allow energy through a planet's atmosphere at the visible and shortwave infrared wavelengths primarily generated by stars while reflecting energy at longwave thermal wavelengths radiated by a planet, thus creating a warming effect for that planet's atmosphere,

Concerned over the litany [replace "˜litany', which has religious origins, with a more neutral term?] of direct and indirect negative impacts scientific consensus has found this warming potential negative impacts scientific consensus has found this warming to have directly or indirectly on ecosystems and populations, including more extreme natural disasters: such as droughts, fire, heat waves, hurricanes, and flooding;, disruption and temporal shifting of seasonal cycles at a rate faster than many organisms can adapt to, sea level rise and acidification;, crop failures;, and desertification,

Aware that many member nation's nations' economies are built around fossil fuels and desiring to seek a solution that is minimally disruptive to economies while addressing this pressing problem,

FeelingThinking that the most efficient and cheapest regulatory framework to abate greenhouse gasses is one that caps the total amount of emissions and divvies divides up credits the allowable emissions among nations while allowing the voluntary trading of emissions credits between nations,

Hereby, subject to any limits set by earlier GA resolutions that are still in force, (This prevents illegality for Contradiction of at least one existing resolution that limits member nations' ability to set tariffs...)
1.) Establishes the Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Authority (GGRA) (Would this be involved at all with WASP? Might re-using WASP's 'Atmospheric Chemistry Establishment' ('ACE') from GAR #421 -- which currently deals with ozone-depleting chemicals -- be a viable alternative?) and empowers it to regulate emissions of greenhouse gasses in the following manner:

2.) Set total global annual release caps for greenhouse gasses such as carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide, based on current global emissions, scientific climate models for the impact of the gasses, decay rate of the gasses, and the global economic impact of the cap; ("˜Global' will run into claims that not all WA members are on the same globe, and that some aren't even on a globe at all, but I admit that this term or something like it is probably unavoidable. Here, however, you run into the same major problem that earlier attempts at such a proposal have faced: Capping the output from member nations will seem pointless when non- member nations situated on the same globes can't be prevented from continuing to pump out as much of those gasses as they choose and may even increase their industrial capacities to fill any market gaps caused by reductions in the WA members...)

3.) Distribute allowable emissions credits for each regulated greenhouse gas among nations proportional to their total populations and present economic output, the global population, and the global cap; (Again, how would this handle the problem with non-WA nations on the same globe?)

4.) Establish (i) punitive fees for emissions beyond the cap for member nations, and, (ii) tariffs on the trade goods produced by non-member nations which all member nations shall enforce, the proceeds of both will first go to GRAA's monitoring and enforcement efforts and any remaining monies will go towards grants to fund the research, development, and implementation of green energy; (Ah, so that is how you propose to handle non-members. You should probably specify in the earlier clauses that the levels set for those there are only "˜preferred', to get around the "Can't bind non-members" rule, and then use "˜preferred' again here...)

5.) Establish an exchange for the trade of emissions credits among nations and private organizations, such that some member (Delete "member"?) nations may exceed their initially allotted emission without punishment via buying credits from other nations or private organizations; (What about non-member nations?)

6.) Create an annual schedule of diminishing total global caps for various gasses until a level felt thought to be globally sustainable based on scientific models is met;

7.) Monitor the net emissions of individual nations taking into account both greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration; (You'll probably get complaints about spying and national security here "“ in fact, the Bears' own "˜Meteorological Cooperation' resolution saw a submitted Repeal attempt whose argument was that this was just a cover for establishing a network of WA spy-satellites! "” so specifying something like "non-intrusive methods" might be advisable. Maybe that earlier resolution's 'IMO' could be useful as part of the monitoring system? Also, be careful about the "Can't bind non-members" rule again in this situation...)

8.) Charges individual nations (And, yet again, you need to be careful of the wording due to the "Can't bind non-members" rule here: As currently worded, I'd probably call it Illegal for that reason...) with determining the best means of meeting their emission caps internally; and;

9.) Clarifies that greenhouse gas emissions through natural sources, such as volcanoes, will not be considered by GRAA.

Co-authored by @imperium_anglorum

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

I would vote in favor of it. Otherwise, I really can't make any suggestions due to the fact that I know virtually nothing about drafting a proposal.

[Ransium]

Environmental - All Industries - Strong

The World Assembly,

Acknowledging that within some member nations, the concept of global warming due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases remains controversial,

Convinced, however, that the preponderance of the scientific evidence shows that some 'greenhouse gases', such as carbon dioxide and methane, allow energy through a planet's atmosphere at the visible and shortwave infrared wavelengths primarily generated by stars while reflecting energy at longwave thermal wavelengths radiated by a planet, thus creating a warming effect for that planet's atmosphere,

Concerned over the many potential negative impacts scientific consensus has found this warming to have directly or indirectly on ecosystems and populations, including more extreme natural disasters: such as droughts, fire, heat waves, hurricanes, and flooding; disruption and temporal shifting of seasonal cycles at a rate faster than many organisms can adapt, sea level rise and acidification; crop failures; and desertification,

Aware that many nation's economies are built around fossil fuels and desiring to seek a solution that is minimally disruptive to economies while addressing this pressing problem,

Concluding that the most efficient and cheapest regulatory framework to abate greenhouse gasses is one that caps the total amount of emissions and divides up credits for the permissible emissions among nations while allowing the voluntary trading of emissions credits between nations,

Hereby, subject to any limits set by earlier GA resolutions that are still in force,

Charges WASP's Atmospheric Chemistry Establishment (ACE) to regulate emissions of greenhouse gasses in the following manner:

1) Set a total global annual target for the amount non-natural release of greenhouse gasses such as carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide, based on current global emissions, scientific climate models for the impact of the gasses, decay rate of the gasses, and the global economic impact of the cap;

2) Distribute allowable emissions credits for each regulated greenhouse gas among member nations and credits establishing preferred targets for non-member nations proportional to their total populations and present economic output, the global population, and the global cap;

3) Establish (i) punitive fees for emissions beyond the cap for member nations, and, (ii) tariffs on the trade goods produced by non-member nations whose emissions exceed their prefered targets which all member nations shall enforce, the proceeds of both will first go to GRAA's monitoring and enforcement efforts and any remaining monies will go towards grants to fund the research, development, and implementation of green energy;

4) Establish an exchange for the voluntary trade of emissions credits open to all nations and private organizations, such that some nations may exceed their initially allotted emission without punishment via buying credits from other nations or private organizations;

5) Create an annual schedule of diminishing total global caps for various gasses until a level modeled to be globally sustainable based on scientific models is met;

6) Monitor the net emissions of individual nations taking into account both greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration via voluntary disclosures and other non-invasive methods;

Notes that individual nations will determine how to best meet their preferred target internally; and;

Clarifies that greenhouse gas emissions through natural sources, such as volcanoes, will not be considered by GRAA.

Co-authored by @imperium_anglorum

[Ransium]

Thanks for the comments. Can't believe I forgot to put 'strong' in as it was my idea to rename all industries in that manner to complement mild. The bulleting used to be there but gotten

I'm not overly concerned with the FT interplanetary arguments. So what? ACE can set different standards for different planets if there's no GHG problem on your planet than no problem. If your teraforming a planet than WASP will see the emissions as a benefit and again no problems.

I've implemented almost all of your suggestions Bears and tried to make sure everything is nice and 'voluntary' for non-member nations

[Bears Armed]

I'll try to get back to this soon.