Mired in Global Warming Politics, Waxman-Markey Bill Should Be Passed
Today's House vote on HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 ("ACESA"), the first ever Congressional legislation to mandate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, may cause the United States to finally, belatedly join the world community's urgent fight against global warming.
Then again, this vote scheduled by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may only be a first hard-fought step in what likely will be a protracted battle to deliver desperately needed climate change legislation to President Obama's desk for his signature.
The politics are both murky and tricky, and Obama has unhelpfully played both sides of the political road on global warming issues.
Basic facts about ACESA, also known as the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, are:
- First federal legislation that endeavors to curb global warming.
- Mandates greenhouse gas reductions by 2020 of 17% from 2005 levels.
- Requires electric utilities to generate 12% or more of their power from wind, solar and other renewsable sources by 2020.
- Limits greenhouse emissions from power and manufacturing plants, oil refineries, and most utilities.
- Exempts farmers and farming and forestry enterprises.
- Strictly limits carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from fossil fuels, which are used mainly by cars and trucks.
- By 2020, will cost the average U.S. family about 18 cents a day, per the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.
Global Warming Politics
At over 1,200 pages, the Waxman-Markey bill is massive and complex, almost beyond imagination. The politics of global warming exerted on this bill are perhaps even more massive and complex.
Most, but not all, House Republicans will vote against the bill today. The Wall Street Journal, which vehemently opposes the bill, explains:
"Despite House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman's many payoffs to Members, rural and Blue Dog Democrats remain wary of voting for a bill that will impose crushing costs on their home-district businesses and consumers..."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 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. "
Most Democrats support ACESA, but not all. Many progressives and vociferous environmentalists, including Greenpeace, feel the bill makes too many compromises, and doesn't go nearly far enough in stemming global warming causes.
Blue Dog Democrats, a sizable House coalition of pro-business moderates, are split on ACESA, and, once again, are the decisive "swing" vote for passage of this vital legislative package.
Waxman-Markey Should Be Passed, Although Imperfect
I believe the bottom-line is this: ACESA, which is an imperfect bill, is nonetheless an essential and monumental step forward past the Bush administration's greedy denial of devastating global warming realities.
Al Gore expressed it best when he testified to Congress about this bill:
"By Repowering America with a transition to a clean energy economy and ending our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels,... this bill will simultaneously address the climate crisis, the economic crisis, and the national security threats that stem from our dependence on foreign oil..."Each day we continue on our current path, America loses more of its competitive edge. And each day we wait, we increase the risk that we will leave our children and grandchildren an irreparably damaged planet.
"Passage of this legislation will restore America’s leadership of the world and begin, at long last, to solve the climate crisis. It is truly a moral imperative. Moreover, the scientific evidence of how serious this climate crisis is becoming continues to amass week after week after week."
Meanwhile, enjoy perusing the following quick-read summaries of aspects of global warming:
- What Is Global Warming?
- Global Warming Facts and Evidence
- The Causes of Global Warming
- The Effects of Global Warming
- Solutions to Stop or Slow Global Warming
(Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
Comments
Wait until your taxes go up, and you are paying an extra $3,500/yr in energy bills, then we will see if you still support this massive tax, wealth distribution scam.
So, maybe I’ll go back to candles and kerosene lanters. But then I’m sure the government would have a problem with that and find a way to tax me on those. Oh wait, no candles, candle company went out of business because they were taxed heavily on their energy use to make them. Okay, so maybe I’ll just sit in the dark.
I doubt that you or anyone voting for this has read it. Clearly you never understood what an exchange market can do to prices. Clearly you missed the Enron and CDS disasters or did not understand them. You and EVERYONE else pushing this legislation NEVER discusses the exchange aspect of it and what it will do. The jobs that will be created are trading jobs making millions and YOU will pay their salaries. And it will become lucrative to produce everything in China and India and NOT here.
I have to agree. Earth’s temperatures have remained flat throughout this decade. There is growing evidence suggesting that climate change occurs with little if any influence from CO2. Yet, many Americans would quite willingly allow the governnment to inflect an even heavier tax burden on a struggling economy to “save the planet.” To say that this makes no sense is the understatement of the millenium.
Nice Bio, perhaps you should change some wording though?
This…
“I have a passion for liberal politics and progressive issues. My goal is to help you understand important issues and topics, and to introduce you to liberal leadership, both longtime and emerging, within our country. I also look forward to providing context and insightful commentary on current issues.”
Should read…
“I have a passion for liberal politics and progressive issues. My goal is to help you understand important issues and topics as i see them, and although my views are not the only views, they will be the only views I will be sharing. I also look forward to providing context and insightful commentary on current issues, as we march together ‘lock-step’ with the liberal powers, towards socialism.”
Have you read it?
I hear there is a couple of paragraphs hidden in the document that clearly spell out the possible true costs of this bill. This of course, is to fulfill the whole transparancy promise. I think it’s a brilliant tactic because the House has learned that if you make a bill large enough, no one has the time or interest in reading the whole document.
You really should feel silly making such blanket comments about a document that you haven’t even read.
This bill might sound pretty and like a great idea, until you actually find out the facts. This bill will help push forward the demise of our economy. Higher energy costs and fewer jobs–is that what you want your country to be known for? Please go and sign this letter and let congress know that you oppose the W-M bill. http://tinyurl.com/klfut8