Story by Chris Thom
For those who are not following the debate and voting on the current cap and trade bill, this could come as a bit of a shock. For those who have been keeping up on it, YOU will lose more sleep than before. Please note that this bill HAS PASSED the house of representatives. We are very close to reality here. Please, read, comment, and forward to as many people as you may know! Please take the time to read as soon as possible.
The higher cost of electricity in North Dakota is just the beginning. Add to that the higher cost of all goods due to increased production and transportation costs, one will be faced with economic ruins within a very short period of time. All of this to support what could be termed a government supported pansi scheme.
From KFYR-TV, Bismarck, ND:
"Energy bills could see a huge increase in the near future.
A cap and trade bill has passed the U.S. House of Representatives that is aimed at stopping climate change. Many Democrats say the bill would improve the nations economy by increasing jobs in renewable energy. Those opposed say it would raise energy bills because of the extra cost companies would incur.
""If cap and trade is passed at $30 a ton tax that means roughly three cents per kilowatt and 30-cents per gallon of fuel. You add that up for a family of four and your electricity bill probably is going to up about $400 a month, but economy wide it could be $4,000 or $5,000 a year,"" says Bill Kalk, ND Public Service Commissioner.
North Dakota`s Representative Earl Pomeroy voted against cap and trade.
The bill still needs to be passed by the U.S. Senate and signed into law by the president. "
This full article can be read at http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=32047
The above comments are from the Public Service Commissioner of the state of North Dakota. A state that happens to rely on fossil fuels for energy needs, especially in the winter. I challenge anyone to safely utter the words "global warming" at -32 F.
"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put cap-and-trade legislation on a forced march through the House, and the bill may get a full vote as early as Friday. In order to get this bill passed, the laws of economics will need to be re-written prior to forming this law. Their gambit got a boost this week, when the Congressional Budget Office did an analysis of what has come to be known as the Waxman-Market bill. According to the CBO, the climate legislation would cost the average household only $175 a year by 2020. Edward Market, Mr. Waxman’s co-author, instantly set to crowing that the cost of upending the entire energy economy would be no more than a postage stamp a day for the average household. Amazing. A closer look at the CBO analysis finds that it contains so many caveats as to render it useless.
For starters, the CBO estimate is a one-year snapshot of taxes that will extend to infinity. Under a cap-and-trade system, government sets a cap on the total amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally; companies then buy or sell permits to emit CO2. The cap gets cranked down over time to reduce total carbon emissions.
To get support for his bill, Mr. Waxman was forced to water down the cap in early years to please rural Democrats, and then severely ratchet it up in later years to please liberal Democrats. The CBO’s analysis looks solely at the year 2020, before most of the tough restrictions kick in. As the cap is tightened and companies are stripped of initial opportunities to "offset" their emissions, the price of permits will skyrocket beyond the CBO estimate of $28 per ton of carbon. The corporate costs of buying these expensive permits will be passed to consumers.
The biggest doozy in the CBO analysis was its extraordinary decision to look only at the day-to-day costs of operating a trading program, rather than the wider consequences energy restriction would have on the economy. The CBO acknowledges this in a footnote: "The resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap."
The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.
When the Heritage Foundation did its analysis of Waxman-Market, it broadly compared the economy with and without the carbon tax. Under this more comprehensive scenario, it found Waxman-Market would cost the economy $161 billion in 2020, which is $1,870 for a family of four. As the bill’s restrictions kick in, that number rises to $6,800 for a family of four by 2035.
Note also that the CBO analysis is an average for the country as a whole. It doesn’t take into account the fact that certain regions and populations will be more severely hit than others — manufacturing states more than service states; coal producing states more than states that rely on hydro or natural gas. Low-income Americans, who devote more of their disposable income to energy, have more to lose than high-income families.
Even as Democrats have promised that this cap-and-trade legislation won’t pinch wallets, behind the scenes they’ve acknowledged the energy price tsunami that is coming. During the brief few days in which the bill was debated in the House Energy Committee, Republicans offered three amendments: one to suspend the program if gas hit $5 a gallon; one to suspend the program if electricity prices rose 10% over 2009; and one to suspend the program if unemployment rates hit 15%. Democrats defeated all of them.
The reality is that cost estimates for climate legislation are as unreliable as the models predicting climate change. What comes out of the computer is a function of what politicians type in. A better indicator might be what other countries are already experiencing. Britain’s Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in green taxes for carbon-cutting programs in effect only a few years.
Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Even Democrats can’t repeal that reality." – Printed in the Wall Street Journal.
So let me make sure I understand this…
First, we are going to set up a new form of federal government and regulation. (of course that will have no fraud or biases toward big-business) This branch of the government will set up limits of "carbon credits" thereby establishing the cap. Business can then trade amongst themselves and establish the trade of said credits, all the while passing the cost on to the end user. Does anyone else see the 8000 lb purple elephant in the corner? Proponents of this bill state that it will help to reduce the deficit. Where? Consumers will spend less, and the government will be spending a great deal more money to administer this new form of trade that it is creating. Stop, my brain hurts. How does this help again? It will absolutely kill working class America. In fact one study predicts a few outcomes:
1. Reduce aggregate gross domestic product (GDP) by $9.6 trillion
2. Destroy an average of 1-3 million jobs, every year
3. Raise electricity rates 90 percent after adjusting for inflation
4. Raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 74 percent
5. Raise residential natural gas prices by 55 percent
6. Raise an average family’s annual energy bill by $1,500 annually
7. Increase the federal debt by 26 percent, which is $29,150 per person
These predictions are based, in part, on the effects that the cap and trade system has had in the governments that have adopted it. Most of which are desperately trying to find their way back out of it. Is this something we should be running head-long into?
Welcome to a Global Economy…. Global Economy my ass. Pardon the french. Is this exciting new global economy going to help me make sure that I can feed and dress my children accordingly? I don’t see how it does. Especially as we adopt a cap and trade system and continue to funnel money into countries such as China, which we are turning a blind eye to on pollution issues. After all, we need our products produced there…. Really? REALLY?
God Bless America. And I pray that he guides our country through some tough decisions. I hope that our leaders can realize that their constituents are too busy trying to keep up with life as we know it, and may have given up on the system as it exists. If the bill passes, one can only assume that our Federal Government has completely turned its back on the population. At least that portion of the population that lives between New York and Los Angeles. The only positive that I see coming out of the passing of this bill is that your average, everyday American will be jolted into making intelligent reform within our government and provide the changes needed to, in reality, have true government "for the people and by the people" and possibly take back federal control over state and local control and freedoms.
I hope that I have provided some fodder to do research on your own, and encourage anyone who reads this to please spend a minute pondering how it will change your life. A second or third job in your near future (if you can find it) sounds great, I’m assuming.
Lets not forget this doesn’t just impact our cost of energy. It impacts the cost of EVERYTHING. Everything moves on a truck… and an increase in 30 cents per gallon in federal "tax" would have HUGE consequences when passed on to the end user.
Please pray for the future of our country, for our leaders, for ourselves to see the light through what could be some very tough times. Please also make your voice heard and please share your feelings on this with others and encourage them to inform their politicians of their thoughts.
Lets keep the words of our founding fathers in mind as we do so:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America….
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
