Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 07/08/2009 6:20:52 PM PDT by Nighttime in America
PEOPLE CAN debate global warming. Argue over green technologies. Discuss the pros and cons of alternative energy sources. But rationalize the Waxman-Markey "cap-and-trade" energy bill? That would take peculiar genius, indeed.
The humongous (more than 1,500 pages) bill passed recently by the U.S. House of Representatives would institute an enormous change in U.S. energy policies--a change that would kill jobs, hurt businesses, suck away trillions from the gross domestic product, and cost consumers through the nose--all for a minimal reduction in global temperature. (More on that in a moment.)
Basically, Waxman-Markey creates a tradable "commodity"--energy credits--that industries buy and sell, and that the government regulates. Slipped into the 1,500 pages of the bill are exceptions and definitions that render it pure gold for regulators who want to trade influence as much as credits, as has been the European experience.
The bill establishes national goals for CO2 levels and "green" requirements for everything from building codes to automobiles. That may not sound like a bad idea, until you read the fine print.
For example, the bill hits hard those regions of the country that depend on coal for electricity generation or revenue (attention: Southwest Virginia). President Barack Obama wasn't kidding during his campaign when he said, "Under my plan of cap and trade, your electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket." We're talking 90 percent.
For areas like the South and Midwest that still have a manufacturing base, the results will be devastating. Small businesses, unable to comply with the new law or afford the increased energy costs, will fold. Big corporations will simply move their jobs to their overseas locations. That's because much of the Third World, including mega-economies China and India, refuse to go along with cap-and-trade.
The monster bill requires buildings to have outlets for those plug-in cars we don't have. Building codes will be nationalized, and houses up for resale will need to be retrofitted to make them "green" (we're sure you're looking forward to federal inspectors coming onto your property to see if your windows leak). And at some point, every car made in America must be able to run on an alternative fuel.
But what about all those "green" jobs the president promised would come from the bill? Surely that's a benefit. But no: A Spanish study estimated there would be 2.2 U.S. jobs lost for every green job created, and each green job would have to be subsidized by the taxpayer to the tune of $803,000.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, estimates Waxman-Markey will cost the average family $3,000 every year between 2012 and 2035. During that time, the U.S. GDP will lose $393 billion every year. Even The Brookings Institute, Heritage's left-leaning counterpart, says that the bill is essentially a $9 trillion tax on the American economy.
Fortunately, legislation of that magnitude is being carefully and completely considered by Congress before passage, right? No. Few House members even had time to read it, and sponsor Henry Waxman, D-(Beverly Hills) Calif., slipped a 300-page amendment into the bill at 3 a.m. the day of the roll call vote.
Nevertheless, you say, we have to do something. The Earth is dying. It's an emergency. Waxman-Markey may "hurt," but look at the impact!
Yes, the impact: 0.05 degrees Celsius improvement in the Earth's temperature by mid-century, according to the administrator of the World Climate Report. Maybe.
Worth it? We're waiting for that "peculiar genius" to prove it.
Algore’s Cap’n and Tax scam has nothing to do with energy or the environment. It’s about making the Marxist piggies very rich.
Yep. And nobody seems to have noticed.
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The biggest goal is to make YOU dependent, dependent on Government for everything from your house to your paycheck i.e. they'll own you.
They're already rich but now they'll be rich and in control.
This is really about creating a second tax code that the government can use to troll for political donations.
The root issue is the desire of a small minority to destroy our standard of living - get more in line with the median standard, transfer wealth to coalesce power, create dependency, and in my opinion - reduce the scourge that is the current level of human population.
The ones that believe in these goals have groomed an army of useful idiots to serve as cannon fodder to accomplish their goals. They have been very successful at that.
We keep focusing on arguing with and trying to change the minds of the useful idiots. This is a purposeful distraction and it is working.
Our goal should be to discredit their leaders, and that shouldn't be all that hard, if only we could keep our eye on the ball...
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