Cap-and-trade’s latest hurdle: It’s a Democrat
November 18, 2009 by Tom GuayPosted in: Special Report, solar power
Will the Democrats ever line up enough votes to get climate change legislation out of the Senate?
It’s looking doubtful now because Sen. James Webb (D-VA) is speaking out against pending cap-and-trade legislation, and he says he won’t support it. That’ll make it tough to get the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome Republican filibustering.
Webb announced this week he’s no fan of the bill from Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) that calls for a 20% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Webb’s possible defection and “no” vote against the pending cap-and-trade bill seems to offset the Republican’s lone supporter of cap-and-trade, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
The cap-and-trade idea is too complex, would create a costly government bureaucracy and eventually run the coal industry out of business, Webb says.
Plus, the Virginian predicts that the only winners in cap-and-trade will be all the middlemen in the trading game who will make all the money. Webb is not joining the global-warming denier crowd. He just seems to think the cap-and-trade bill won’t get the job done — the job meaning energy security.
Instead of spending all that cap-and-trade money on carbon reductions, Webb has a different idea. He wants the government to spend $10 billion to eventually $100 billion to help prop up the nuclear power industry. To do this, he and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have proposed their own Clean Energy Act of 2009. Their use of terms like “clean” and “carbon-free” are generally euphemisms for nuclear power.
The Webb/Alexander proposal would also direct taxpayer money to study:
- carbon capture technologies
- non-ethanol biofuels
- electric vehicles and electrical storage
- cost-competitive solar power, and
- technology to reduce nuclear waste generation.
Webb and Alexander do not address greenhouse gas emission reduction goals. They say they hope to get their bill passed separately from the Boxer/Kerry climate change bill.
Note: The Webb/Alexander push to emphasize a nuclear option is echoed in a Graham/Kerry plan to expand nuclear power in the U.S. in exchange for creating the GHG cap-and-trade law.
Tags: cap-and-trade, climate change, greenhouse gases, nuclear power
GreenandMore.com
Loading ...
November 19th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Thank God there are dems with some sense like Webb.
Lindsey Grahm needs to be thrown out of office!
the government should not inact legislation like cap and trade since it only hurts American prosperity ie Americas Childrens future.
Also global temeratures over the last five years contradict the man made global warming claims!
more likley its the natural earth cycles as it has done for millions of years. why would we expect anything else is the cause.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
I’m glad to see there is a Dem against Cap & Trade. This bill will move jobs to countries who don’t care about the environment, so it’s not going to solve any environmental issues. It’s just going to drive costs up for Americans and put them out of work.
There is nothing wrong with recycling and taking care of our earth, but the Left is taking this way too far. I say Drill Here/Drill NOW! Cut off money to the terrorists and provide jobs and money here in the USA! Global Warming is a MYTH, everything cycles, even climate.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Can the Obama administration come up with any more ideas to put the
American businessman out of business? Cap-and-trade will be just one more reason there will be no new business in the U. S.
November 19th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I agree with Sen. James Webb (D-VA) that this ‘cap-n-trade’ legislation will find that its greatest achievement will be to fill the pockets of the energy traders. If you really think about it, the idea that one company who doesn’t use its alotted energy credits can ’sell’ its unused credits to a company that exceeds its limits… where is the reduction in GHG? It is still at the same dad-burned level as before, but now company A has some of company B’s money! There is NO logic in that kind of plan.
November 19th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Thank God their is somebody on the left that is using their brain. It’s about time! All I ever hear about are jobs going over seas, is it any wonder why? I live in California and have all my life, and it’s about time the rest of the country woke up and quit following the lead of the far liberal left from the bay area and Sacramento here. Just look at how they have run this beautiful state, full of natural resources into a debt that we or our children will never get out of. I’ts so sad, I used to be a Democrat a few years back but I am not going to follow these progressives off the cliff like the rest of the sheep in this state. Thank you Mr. Webb.
November 19th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Senators Webb and Alexander should be designated “Governmental Persons of the Year”. Finally, we have legislators who recognizes the importance of nuclear power in the grand plan of becoming energy self reliant. Despite its capital cost and “evil” reputation from two decades ago, it has never been seriosly considered as a source of energy despite the tremendous use of it in particularly Europe. I don’t think too many people disagree with energy savings, clean energy or the need to reduce emmissions. The original legislation as introduced by those two far left “loonies”, Kerry and Boxer, created more of the onerous control we have come to recognize from the current legislative bodies and the President. By maximizing nuclear, emmissions can be reduced, capping will be a moot point and the US can eliminate the silly theory called “trading” of credits” forever.
What a plan because it makes good sense and puts Al Gore in the far back row and totally out of the national spotlight.
November 19th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
A senator from the majority using common sense? Whats the catch?
November 19th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
This is good news. There have to be other Democrats that think like this. Now we just have to get them to be brave enough to step forward. It puzzles me how easy it is to make people think that legislators who use sound logic appear to be bad people because they are “obstuctionists”. All these “obstuctionists” are doing is keeping us from running our entire economy off a cliff. If that is bad, explain to me why.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Thank you Senators Webb and Alexander. The only people that will benefit from cap and trade belong to Al Gore. I am a small business owner struggling to keep my doors open now. Cap and Trade will be the final nail in my caufin.
November 19th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
It is good to see someone who refuses to march with the uneducated majority of Democrats. His observations about middlemen being the only ones making money is absolutely correct. Al Gore and his pals stand to lose BILLIONS if this legislation fails. I for one would love to see those liars ruined in the way they would happily ruin others. Let’s hope more in Congress actually read real research instead of the speculation about global warming and green house emissions and vote against this stupidity .
November 19th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Wow! I’m GLAD to see there are more people on this blog that are vocal about the “tall tales” being spun in Washington. I have been on this blog for almost a year and have been trying get the word out, but a lot of times it felt like I was alone.
Here is the your best argument against global warming. If it exists, the data is 100 years (at best). In the last 5 years it has gone the other way, but regardless 100 years of data 3,000,000,000 year old planet. lol
1) Statistically 1/30,000,000. Not even a blip on a chart. Cycles of the earth is a much better idea.
2) If you accept the “global warming theory” Carbon emissions would have to be 100% eliminated for 33 years to reduce the planet temperature rise by 1 degree. Projections by the “global warming” groups is that the earth temperature will rise 7 degrees in the next 100 years, so to curb this, the whole world will have to stop doing everything “including farting” for the next 220+- years.
3) One volcanic eruption can emmit more green house gas than the entire US in a year. So where did all that green house gas go?
4) The termite expells more green house gas than any other creature on earth. Shouldn’t we start with them?
The bottom line is that Cap and Trade will kill American business (esp.. small business). If it goes through (as written) it will cost my company $18,000.00 more per month (just in electric costs). Were about a $6mm dollar a year company.
So do what I did. I contacted both of my senators (D), and they politely noded and smiled, but they are on notice. I do not want this bill, and if they sign it I, will spend every dollar and every ounce of energy I have to defeat them next time around.
The founders of this country pledged their lifes, their fortune and their sacred honor to each other to fight tyranny. Can we do any less???
November 20th, 2009 at 9:18 am
a) Cap and Trade exists only for Internationalists to “tax” the United States – victims = American citizens and their children.
b) ALL of the original supporters (each of them) of this ridiculous mathematical calculation idea use more energy than any 20 houses anywhere
Its difficult to understand why any politician in the U.S. could get behind a program that hurts its citizens and makes the elite even more elite. Oh, wait! I get it now. Taxing and regulating the middle class out of existence makes it easier to rule us. And don’t forget, all the politicians are attorneys and to quote one of my relatives, who is a prosecuting attorney, “we’re trained to argue”.
As some of you already know, the scientific community recently sent letters to members of congress denying that they had any part in a statement that there was global warming and in fact, stated they were absolutely convinced that the earth was now in a cooling stage. So, Cap and Trade should be DOA!
November 20th, 2009 at 10:40 am
It is extremely nice to see so many people on an environmental site who truly care about the environment and not about what Al Gore wants to do to pad his pocketbook. Thank You.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I think what should be done in 2010 and 2012, is that we all join forces, “card check” the legislators who didn’t vote to block the likes of the Boxer-Kerry legislation and other bills they are attempting to pass, take away their health insurance package that none of us will ever have and “cap and trade” them for new representatives that listen to business and the rest of “mainstream” America. We can then celebrate with a “Tea Party” watching Pelosi, Reid, Franke, Dodd, Shumur et al (the list is far too long) fly out of Washingto D.C. on Southwest. This airline will be the one of choice because of all the “baggage” they will be transporting out of town.
November 30th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Some smart people here. I’m from NY, so I’m glad to know others think like me. The ‘greens’ have allowed this thing to go from interesting to stupid. All that will happen is to make it harder for American businesses to operate and it won’t change a thing globally for the environment. More uncontrolled polution elsewhere.. The Chinese and Indians couldn’t care less about the environment. If our stupid policies make us more dependent on them, even better! (as far as they’re concerned.) this cap and trade plan is an even bigger turkey than the healthcare debacle. Responsible use of energy is a good thing, but there is SO MUCH we could do-offshore drilling is so much better and cleaner and safer than it was in the past and the Alaskan Oilfields actual affected areas are much smaller than the ‘treehuggers” would like us to believe. Oversight? Fine! But if anyone remembers the Arabs holding us up back in the 70s and the gaslines, we don’t want to be held hostage again. NOT a good thing.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Oil is not the issue, it is control of our lifes. For those of you with a faint heart, stop reading now!
Within the continential United States (without off shore drilling) in just two deposits, there is over 5.5 trillion barrels of oil. For those of you who may not know, at the US’s current usage that would last 2000+ years.
Check it out for yourselfs. Stansberry Report Online 4/20/2006, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (tag line: Williston Basin or Bakken Reserves), Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates. The Bakken reserves (est..500 BILLION). The Rocky Mountain reserve (est.. 2 TRILLION)
was reported by Denver Post and mandated by President Bush (8/8/2005) to start to extract it.
Within the US we have
8 times more oil than Saudi Arabia
18 times more oil than Iraq
21 times more oil than Kuwait
22 times more oil than Iran
500 times more oil than Yemen
So why are we selling ourselfs out to the oil producing world? Environmental regulation!
Don’t get me wrong, I think we should be as cautious as possible in using our resources, but!!
In 10-20 years when we have sold out everything we have to the Chinese and the Arabian worlds, and they come in to take over, do you think they will hesitate in taping our own reserves?
Humm, I wonder how they will feel about our envorinment then, since they have no regard for their own countries now!!