This legislation aims to create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.
Possible Concerns
National Energy Tax: This is a tax that will affect constituents in every aspect of their lives. From transportation, to food, to electricity, to income – this is the ultimate regressive consumption tax to the tune of nearly $3,000 per year according to the Heritage Foundation. The costs per family for the whole energy tax aggregated from 2012 to 2035 are estimated to be $71,493.
Exacerbates the Economic Crisis: Studies from numerous independent research groups, including MIT, the Heritage Foundation, and CRA International, all agree that implementing a massive cap and tax scheme will cost millions of jobs, reduce earnings for the average U.S. worker, and devastate GDP.
Massive Job Losses: According to the Heritage Foundation, employment will be lower by 1,105,000 jobs per year. In some years, the national energy tax will reduce employment by nearly 2.5 million jobs.
Winners & Losers: The bill transfers wealth from rural areas to cities. States like California, Washington, and New Jersey would receive more emission credits than they need, enabling them to sell surplus credits to smaller facilities in states like Ohio that receive maybe half of the credits they need – making the rich, richer, and the poor, poorer.
Little Environmental Impact: The bill will cost consumers trillions of dollars, while reducing, by a very small amount the carbon dioxide that is contained in our atmosphere. World-wide emission reductions would be negligible without the full participation of all nations. Additionally, just because the government requires a certain decrease in 1 emissions within a certain timeframe, does not mean such decreases can occur in that time period.
Green Jobs Are a Proven Failure: According to a recent study that reviewed the impact of “green jobs” in Spain, the U.S. can expect 2.2 jobs to be destroyed for every 1 renewable job financed by the government. Only 1 in 10 of the jobs actually created through green investment is permanent, and since 2000, Spain has spent 753,778 U.S dollars to create each “green job,” including subsidies of more than $1,319,783 per wind industry job.
Free Money to Select Corporate Titans: Government-run “cap and trade” is, by definition, a central economic planning scheme in which the government decides which industries and companies deserve more or fewer credits and what business factors and economic outputs are “necessary.” Small business and rural interests never had a seat at the table when discussions occurred on how to craft H.R. 2454.
Creates a Derivatives Market for Companies like AIG: Companies like AIG and ENRON will be participating in a new derivatives market that is much more volatile than housing or natural gas. This new unregulated derivates market will be more perilous for companies like these than the traditional ones that got them into trouble in the first place. In addition, since the created artificial market contains no transparency, it is more likely to attract traders intent on imposing Ponzi schemes in the same spirit of Bernie Madoff and swindle thousands of Americans.
Devastates Rural America: According to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the monthly residential electricity bills in 25 states will increase 15 to 28 percent for every $20/ton of carbon dioxide allowances. Rural households spend 58% more on fuel than urban residents as a percentage of their income. The Heritage foundation estimates farm income will drop by $50 billion by 2035.
Concedes to the Competition: Currently, China accounts for 85% of global growth in coal each year and is the world’s largest annual emitter of greenhouse gases. China’s energy usage rose by 7.2% last year and they are building approximately two coal fired power plants per week to keep up with demand. Recently, at a U.N. conference, the Chinese government’s advisory panel on climate change asserted that the cap and tax targets were too low by stating. Given that, it is natural for China to have some increase in its emissions, so it is not possible for China in that context to accept a binding or compulsory target. In addition, India will not agree to any cap on their total energy production, and many believe India will double their coal-fired-capacity by 2030.
Discriminates Against Developing Nations: The bill creates a new program under USAID to provide U.S. foreign aid to developing countries for their efforts to adapt to climate change. Essentially, the bill is sending taxpayer funds to encourage third world nations to not develop carbon emitting energy sources – keeping them at a competitive disadvantage from developed nations for even more decades to come.
Establishes an Unrealistic Renewable Energy Standard (RES): “Cap and tax” does not take into account the fact that additional hydropower, nuclear and advanced fossil coal power plants cannot be deployed quickly enough to meet expected growth in electricity demand while also dramatically reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since renewable technology accounts for a small percentage of energy demand, consumers can expect not only higher rates, but more transmission problems during peak hours of demand. Additionally, the bill preempts at least 23 state renewable electricity standards.
Davis-Bacon: “Cap and tax” expands Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements to many provisions of the bill. This policy ahs been shown to increase public construction costs by anywhere from 5 to 38 percent above projected costs for the same project in the private sector.
Bloated Bureaucracy: The bill establishes a myriad of new federal agencies intertwined between at least 21 established agencies with the mission of reallocating trillions of taxpayer dollars in a supposedly fair and efficient manor. According to the U.S Chamber of Commerce, the bill will impose 397 new federal regulations that require traditional agency rulemakings.
Countless Federal Mandates: The bill imposes over a thousand mandates and even mandates efficiency requirements on electric appliances like Jacuzzis.
PASSED – 219-212 – SEE ROLL CALL VOTE
The Majority Tracker 
This Bill needs to be shot down and thrown away!!!!
THE DEMOCRATIC NUM SKULLS ARE AT IT AGAIN. TAKE THREE FOURTHS OF THEIR SALARY AND START GIVING TO THE PEOPLE.
THEY HAVE THE ENERGY BILL, AND WANT HEALTH PLAN ALSO. WITH THE ENERGY ALONE WE ARE DEAD IN THE WATER, AND WITH THE HEALTH PLAN ON TOP OF THAT WE WILL BE DROWNED IN, OBAMA, PELOSI, BARNEY FRANK, EED, AND DODDS SLOP OF SO CALLED ECONOMICS THAT IS FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLEL
THESE PEOPLE ARE CRAZY POWER HUNGRY FANATICAL BUMS.
REED WAS TO BE INCLUDED IN MY REPLY, THE WASHINGTON CIRCUS
THEIR STIMULUS DID NOT DO A THING TO JUMP STAR THE ECONOMY, OBAMA AND HIS LOYAL SUBJECTS WANT TO OWN EVERYTHING, THEY NEED TO BE STOPPED.
YOU CAN PUSH THE AMERICAN PEOPL ONLY SO FAR.
[…] wealth from rural areas to more urban areas, or from the heartland to the coasts. For example, Michele Bachmann, Representative from Minnesota, has put on her website an attack on the bill, including for the reason that it “transfers wealth from rural areas to cities. States like […]
We need to ge the thieves and traitors out of Washington. Obama should be impeached, and most of the congress and house with him