By Ken McEntee
Although about 75 percent of compost producers responding to a Composting News survey this month believe global warming is occurring, more than half of the respondents believe that a tax on greenhouse gas emissions or a mandatory cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would have negative impacts on the economy that would outweigh any environmental benefits.
Only about 17 percent of respondents believe a tax on greenhouse gas emissions would be an effective way to reduce or stop global warming and only about 22 percent believe a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gases would be effective in reducing or stopping global warming.
The survey was emailed to almost 700 producers, permitted only one response per computer IP address and had a response rate of about 14 percent, representing a only small portion of the nation’s composting facilities.
But certain trends were made clear by the responses.
Of the 75 percent of respondents who believe global warming is occurring, about half believe human activities are responsible, and half believe it is due to circumstances beyond our control. One respondent commented that the survey did not allow for an opinion that global warming is caused by both human activities and natural occurrences beyond our control.
The survey indicated that many composters remain unsure about global warming issues. Asked whether global warming is happening, about 14 percent responded, “I don’t know” – an answer that garnered 14 to 25 percent of the responses on most of the nine questions on the survey.
Regarding a tax on greenhouse gas emissions, 19 percent of respondents said it would be worth it despite a negative impact on the economy. Only 5.4 percent said such a tax would not have a negative impact on the economy.
Regarding a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 17 percent said it would be worth it despite the negative impact on the economy. About 14 percent said a cap and trade system would not have a negative impact on the economy.
Although more than half of the respondents believe a greenhouse gas tax or a cap and trade system would have a negative impact on the economy and would not be worth it even if it had environmental benefits, almost 29 percent of the respondents said they would like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting because it would be good for them, the environment and the economy.
Almost 26 percent said they would like to make money selling such credits which would be good for them, good for the environment but bad for the economy. Twenty percent said they would not want to make money by selling greenhouse gas credits. But 26 percent of those responding to the question agreed to none of the eight options, indicating a flawed question.
Details of the survey questions follow below. Six respondents chose to provide comments regarding the issue of global warming as it relates to composting. Those comments are published below.
If you are a compost producer and did not receive this survey by email, we may have no email for you, or we may have an incorrect email. You can get into our database by sending your email and other company information to ken@recycle.cc.
1. Which of the following do you most agree with?Human activities are responsible for global warming. 38.90%
Global warming is occurring but it is a natural occurrence that is beyond our control. 36.10%
Global warming is not occurring. 11.10%
I don’t know. 13.90%
Skipped question (1)
2. Which of the following do you most agree with?Global warming is happening and a tax on greenhouse gas emissions would be an effective way to reduce or stop it. 16.70%
Global warming is happening but a tax on greenhouse gas emissions would not be an effective way to reduce or stop it. 44.40%
Global warming is not happening. 13.90%
I don’t know. 25.00%
Skipped question (1)
3. Which of the following statements do you most agree with?Global warming is happening and a “cap and trade” system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would be an effective way to reduce or stop it. 21.60%
Global warming is happening but a “cap and trade” system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would not be an effective way to reduce or stop it. 48.60%
Global warming is not happening. 10.80%
I don’t know. 18.90%
4. Which of the following statements do you most agree with?A tax on greenhouse gas emissions would have a negative impact on the economy but it would be worth it
because it would have positive environmental benefits. 18.90%
A tax on greenhouse has emissions would have a negative impact on the economy and would not be worth it
even though it would have positive environmental benefits. 54.10%
A tax on greenhouse gas emissions would not have a negative impact on the economy. 5.40%
I don’t know. 21.60%
5. Which of the following statements do you most agree with?A mandatory cap and trade system for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would have a negative impact on the economy but it would be worth it because it would have positive environmental benefits. 17.10% A mandatory cap and trade system for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would have a negative impact on the economy and would not be worth it even though it would have positive environmental benefits. 54.30%
A mandatory cap and trade system for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would have not have a negative impact on the economy. 14.30%
I don’t know. 14.30%
Skipped question (2)
6. Which of the following statements do you most agree with?The use of compost in its various applications can help to reduce global warming. 59.50%
The use of compost in its various applications has no effect on global warming. 18.90%
Global warming is not occurring. 8.10%
I don’t know. 13.50%
7. Please rank the following revenue steams according to which you believe are the most important to your composting operation, with “1” being the most important and “3” being the least important. This question assumes the implementation of a cap and trade system in which greenhouse gas reduction credits can be sold.
Sales of compost:Most important: 61.1% Second most important: 38.9% Least important: 0.0%
Tipping fees to accept feedstock: Most important: 38.9% Second most important: 55.6% Least important: 5.6%
Revenue from the sale of carbon/greenhouse gas credits:Most important: 0.0% Second most important: 5.6% Least important 94.4%
Skipped question (1)
8. Which of the following statements best reflects your attitude toward carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits in a cap and trade system?• I would like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me, good for the environment and good for the economy. 28.60%
• I would like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me and good for the environment but bad for the economy. 25.70%
• I would like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me and good for the economy, but bad for the environment. 0.00%
• I would like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me, but bad for the environment and bad for the economy. 0.00%
• I would NOT like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting
even though it would be good for me, good for the environment and good for the economy. 5.70%
• I would NOT like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me and good for the environment but bad for the economy. 0.00%
• I would NOT like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me and good for the economy, but bad for the environment. 0.00%
• I would NOT like to make money by selling carbon/greenhouse gas reduction credits by composting.
It would be good for me, but bad or neutral for the environment and bad for the economy. 14.30%
• I don’t agree with any of these statements. 25.70%
Skipped question (2)
Comments from respondents:
1. I find this idea of cap and trade a very fascist and oppressive concept. It is not about the environment it is another way for those in power to tax those who are productive. Compost should be about healing the soil and improving nutrient density in crops.
2. Global warming has many influence and your survey does not represent that. the survey questions are very slanted and made me feel that you should have put the "I don't agree with any of these statements" at the end of each survey question. also, compost use doesn't have the greatest impact, it is the act of composting that has the greatest greenhouse impacts.
3. I could not provide an answer to #1 because none of the options given adequately cover my view. I would say most experts and probably most people would say that global warming is caused by both human activities as well as by natural occurrences. I think a loud minority of folks believe that human activities have had no impact on global warming and (if it is even happening), it is entirely due to natural occurrence. On the other hand, those that do believe that human activities are having an impact on global warming generally also agree that there may be natural occurrences at play. So to conclude, most would likely say both factors contribute to global warming but there is no option to select this point of view. Regardless of what is to blame, the most important thing is do people believe it is happening and if so is it a bad thing. If it is a bad thing, then we should try to stop or slow it down. What caused it has become a bit of a red herring and an unnecessary lighting rod. Rather than assigning blame, the focus should be on recognizing it is occurring and figuring out ways to combat it.
4. The balance is creating a system that is fair but not overly complex to administer so that it outweighs the benefits.
5. In the value chain there appears to be a bottle neck at the end user level. As a public facility our largest problem is to have a steady end user base that will take our mulch material made from the green bin pick-up. These users are typically farms that don't like contamination and expect tipping fees. Private facilities pay a tipping fee to the farms. This has forced our operation to differentiate our product as a premium one since we can't pay a tipping fee. This strategy has worked more or less but the longevity of these end users and the total capacity at this level needs to be better determined and enhanced if more material is to be processed by this system.
6. What little I know about it and what other countries that been involved with global warming and cap and trade that it has not been a benefit and more costly to implement than was projected. It is a money making scheme for a very few as far as I am concerned.
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