Contrary to the recent letter to the editor in The Des Moines Register from Rod Pierce, our government should not create or subsidize a carbon credit market in order to create an additional source of income for farmers. It reminds me of the ethanol debacle. Fifteen years ago our government created a market for corn-based ethanol by forcing fuel suppliers to add ethanol to gasoline under the misleadingly named Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Farmers and ethanol producers fight tooth and nail to prevent our government from phasing out the RFS. A carbon credit scheme could very well be another government program that will be costly to maintain and difficult to ever end. Farmers become dependent on subsidies just like everyone else. We don’t know what new technologies will emerge – just like no one predicted the shale oil boom in North Dakota. Our government needs to stay out of the energy and agricultural markets. Farmers will be on a surer footing when they don’t depend on government subsidies.
Link to Register letter from Rod Pierce: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/readers/2020/08/31/letters-trump-should-not-take-credit-potential-vaccine/5673834002/
Libertarian Perspectives 