Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a global warming alarmist, but he recognizes here the problems with the newest type of protectionism: “carbon tariffs.”
The consequences of failure in Copenhagen [a December meeting of world leaders to discuss climate change] could be considerable. In
the short term, we may well see climate-related concerns become the
newest excuse for increased trade protectionism. So-called “carbon
tariffs” are likely to be introduced to penalise imports from countries
or companies deemed not to be doing enough to curb emissions. World
trade is already down sharply as a result of the economic crisis;
introducing new tariffs would reduce trade further.
