Beginning in 2027, the European Union is set to broaden its emissions trading system (ETS) with the introduction of ETS2. While the original ETS primarily focused on heavy industry and power generation, ETS2 will directly affect the daily lives of ordinary citizens — from their homes to their automobiles.
Disguised as a noble effort to ‘save the climate,’ the EU plans to gradually inflate the costs of gasoline, diesel, and heating gas. However, let’s cut through the green rhetoric: ETS2 is less about environmental protection and more about exerting economic control, redistributing wealth, and consolidating authority among banks, major corporations, governments, and the European Commission.
On the surface, participation remains ‘voluntary.’ You can still drive a gasoline vehicle or heat your home with natural gas. But any choice that strays from the state’s ‘sustainability goals’ will soon become financially untenable.
This isn’t outright confiscation of assets but rather an imposition of economic constraint through rising prices, regulatory requirements, and the reallocation of profits. Instead of enjoying genuine freedom of choice, individuals and businesses will find themselves financially coerced into adopting government-sanctioned behaviors.
Who stands to gain?
The beneficiaries of this scheme include banks, investment funds, multinational corporations, government coffers, and the European Commission. Financial entities like Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank are already raking in billions from the trading of CO2 certificates. Governments are cashing in through the auctioning of emission permits, while large corporations, benefiting from free allowances or surplus certificates, can profit from selling these — all while maintaining a façade of eco-friendliness.
And who will bear the brunt of these costs?
The burden will fall squarely on ordinary citizens, small businesses, the transportation sector, and independent entrepreneurs. They may face hundreds of euros in added expenses yearly just to heat their homes and commute to work. The most vulnerable populations are promised support through a ‘Social Climate Fund’—a government subsidy that risks deepening their dependence on state assistance.
This situation raises a critical question: What trajectory are we on? Is this a form of communism, where the state owns production means, or fascism, where the state collaborates with big business to exert societal control? In reality, ETS2 epitomizes a novel hybrid system. While private ownership is nominally upheld, real control is wielded through regulatory frameworks, price adjustments, and conditional subsidies. The market isn’t eliminated; it’s merely repurposed to serve ideological ends. Economic freedom is a privilege afforded only to those who can afford compliance.
The technocratic pressures emanating from Brussels are sold as an ‘essential transition,’ yet they are dismantling the very underpinnings of our economy, jeopardizing the middle class, and undermining prosperity. Rather than promoting authentic innovation, ETS2 penalizes those who lack the means to “comply.”
While banks and corporations speculate and profit, the diligent EU citizen will soon confront a dismal choice: endure a freezing winter or accrue debt for a heat pump they neither requested nor required.
The EU asserts that price increases will occur “gradually” and that safeguards are in place to prevent social unrest. However, history shows that new taxes and levies rarely vanish. What starts as a temporary measure invariably transforms into a permanent fixture.
ETS2 is just the beginning.
Following the imposition on homes and vehicles, sectors such as aviation, agriculture, and consumer goods are next in line for similar price manipulations. Every industry labeled ‘unsustainable’ will face the same economic pressures. Personal liberties will continue to dwindle, not through overt political repression, but through economic coercion cloaked in the guise of environmental responsibility.
For those clinging to the belief that freedom of choice remains intact, let’s be clear: a choice rendered financially unfeasible is no choice at all. It transforms into coerced compliance—an act of economic submission.
As Margaret Thatcher wisely observed: “Global warming provides a marvelous excuse for global socialism.” Climate change must never serve as a justification for economic servitude. Reject green tyranny. Embrace freedom, prosperity, and genuine choice.
By Rob Roos.
This article was originally published in European Conservative.
