Thou shall not sell environmental crimes indulgences

Sir, albeit a bit late, I refer to David Sheppard’s Big Read “Carbon trading: the ‘one-way’ bet for hedge funds” FT August 23.In his Encyclical Letter 'Laudato Si’ of 2015, Pope Francis wrote:

"171. The strategy of buying and selling “carbon credits” can lead to a new form of speculation which would not help reduce the emission of polluting gases worldwide. This system seems to provide a quick and easy solution under the guise of a certain commitment to the environment, but in no way does it allow for the radical change which present circumstances require. Rather, it may simply become a ploy which permits maintaining the excessive consumption of some countries and sectors."

With “permits” Pope Francis was here de facto referring to some type of “indulgences”, which help pardon environmental sins. 

It was Martin Luther’s attacks on the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences for the remission of temporal punishment for forgiven sins, which caused the rift that led to the creation of the Protestant Church. Therefore, more than 500 years since Luther in 1517 (supposedly) nailed his “Ninety-five Thesis” on the door of Old Saints' Church in Wittenberg, I found it curious (and equally correct) to read a Catholic Pope accusing many protestants who favor carbon trading, for sort of a similar procedure.

As a protestant belonging to the Swedish church, ser wife and catholic children, I do not like carbon trading, as I previously explained in a letter you published, I much prefer high carbon taxes shared out equally to all, as that would align the incentives in the fight against climate change and the fight against poverty. 

http://ourpiedaterre.blogspot.com

@PerKurowski

If today Luther protested the high priests in the Basel Committee, where would he nail his Theses? Twitter, Facebook?

Sir, Kate Maltby writes: “Luther… backed by the painstaking detail of a scholar, took an intellectual stand against the most powerful forces of his day. But Lutheranism ushered in an age in which debates were won by those who read the sources and rejected received interpretations.” “What did Luther ever do for us? Less than we like to think” October 31, 2017

As you know I have obsessively, since more than a decade, with more than 2.600 letters, been nailing to FT my arguments against the maddening stupid bank regulations the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision has decreed.

These regulations not only distort the allocation of credit to the real economy (millions of entrepreneurs have not gotten their opportunity to a bank credit only because of these regulations); but also because in terms of stability, the only thing it promotes is that when a big crisis happens, banks will stand there with especially little capital (as the 20% risk weight of dangerous AAA rated, and the 150% for the innocuous below BB- rated evidences). 

So I want to take this opportunity today, when “five hundred years ago, on October 31 1517, Martin Luther took up a hammer and nailed his 95 Theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg” to ask you, where would Martin Luther nail his Theses today? Not in FT…perhaps in Twitter or ​Facebook?

An aide-mémoire

@PerKurowski

Current bank regulating technocrats posing as scientifically knowledgeable are just vulgar impostors.

Sir, Anjana Ahuja refers to how Galileo was imprisoned by the Roman Catholic Church for his conviction that the Earth went round the Sun, and warns scientists may well feel the heat from those in power once again, referring here clearly to Donald Trump. “Echoes of Galileo in the populist retreat from reason” December 7.

Sir, careful there, often those in power masquerade as scientists. For instance bank regulators of the Basel Committee and the Financial Stability Board, behave much more like theologians than the scientists they purport themselves to be. Their creed is: Assets perceived ex ante perceived as risky are ex post risky, and so banks should therefore hold more capital against these.

And if a third, or much lesser class Galileo like me, dares to argue that what is perceived as risky, becomes less dangerous precisely because of that ex ante perception; while what is perceived as safe becomes more dangerous precisely because of that ex ante perception, then he has to be ignored and his questions should not be answered. 

Sir, you want further proof about these fake scientists? Ahuja writes: “Why is science under siege? One possible explanation is that it favours objective evidence over subjective experience.” Well, the Basel Committee never even researched in order obtain objective evidence of what has caused all previous major bank crises, before adopting their own subjectivity as their guiding light.

Lately I have been wondering whether I need to go on a hunger strike or take similar extreme actions, in order to get some response to some very basic questions from the impostors. But perhaps I should refrain from doing so, since I could be burned at the stake… and without the science respectful FT, perhaps also feeling alleviated, not even reporting on the incident.

Like Martin Luther I might just nail my questions on some Church door in Basel, and take it from there.

PS. Let us not forget that Galileo's views were at one moment considered "alternative facts" or "fake news"

@PerKurowski

Is the Catholic Church now telling the Lutheran Church: “Thou shall not sell carbon indulgences”?

Sir I refer to James Politi’ and Giulia Segreti’s “Pope says multinationals and greed threaten environment” June 19.

Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si states: “171. The strategy of buying and selling “carbon credits” can lead to a new form of speculation which would not help reduce the emission of polluting gases worldwide. This system seems to provide a quick and easy solution under the guise of a certain commitment to the environment, but in no way does it allow for the radical change which present circumstances require. Rather, it may simply become a ploy which permits maintaining the excessive consumption of some countries and sectors.”

I have for years I argued that the “carbon credits” so much promoted by Germany among others, are like the indulgences sold by the Catholic Church for the forgiveness of sins, and which Martin Luther protested. And so now, in a strange twist of history, it seems it is the Catholic Church that is telling the Lutheran Church “Thou shall not sell indulgencies”

@PerKurowski

The Protestants and their carbon emission indulgencies

Sir, Gideon Rachman correctly points out that the issue of global warming could save the union of the European Union but of course it could also end up as just “Another European commitment that might vanish into thin (and perhaps hot) air", March 20.

Beside Rachman’s arguments this week, here in Washington, as part of the celebrations of the 50 years of EU Joachim Radkau is going to give at the World Bank an address titled "Protestantism and Environmentalism: In Quest of a Weberian Approach to Eco-History", and frankly, even though I am a protestant, I do not believe the world, or Europe, can really afford to make anything that could smell even so slightly religious-divisive out of the environment, but needs instead to keep is as a big uniting almost ecumenical movement.

Having said that I must mention that I am still quite curious about how Mr. Radkau intends to explain how so many European protestant countries now favour, in the name of the environment, the trading of carbon emission rights. Those sound to me so much like those old catholic permissions-to-sin indulgences that Martin Luther fought so hard against.