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The enormous bill sits on a congressman's desk.
(Photo:Yahoo News).
Yesterday, the U.S. House passed the Cap and Trade Bill (H.R. 2454 American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009).
According to OpenCongress the bill is designed to: “reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent before 2020. Other provisions include new renewable requirements for utilities, studies and incentives regarding new carbon capture and sequestration technologies, energy efficiency incentives for homes and buildings…”.
What all that really means is that the House has just passed an enormous energy tax that will be a burden on all of us. Congressman Radanovich referred to the measure as an “$800 billion national energy tax.” If you think your electricity and gas bills are pricy now, just wait.
Senior Policy Analysts for Energy and Environment at the Thomas A. Roe Institute, Ben Lieberman says: “The bottom line is that cap and trade works by raising the cost of energy high enough so that individuals and businesses are forced to use less of it. Inflicting economic pain is what this is all about.”
If the bill passes in the Senate—which it has a very good chance of doing—the bill will not take effect until 2012. In Lieberman’s testimony before the Senate Republican Conference he concluded that for a household of four, energy costs will go up $436 that year and will eventually reach $1,241 in 2035 and average $829 annually over that span. Electricity costs will go up 90 percent by 2035, gasoline by 58 percent and natural gas by 55 percent.
The bill does not directly regulate individual homeowners but targets utility companies, oil refiners, natural gas producers and manufacturers that produce energy on site---but of course all those extra costs will be passed down to us, the consumers. The cumulative higher energy costs for a family of four by then will be nearly $20,000.
Lieberman also estimated job losses in manufacturing averaging 1,145,000 at any given time from 2012-2035 due to the increase in production costs. He said: “Note that those are net job losses, after the much-hyped green jobs are taken into account. Some of the lost jobs will be destroyed entirely, while others will be outsourced to nations like China and India that have repeatedly stated they’ll never hamper their own economic growth with energy-cost boosting global warming measures.”
The bill, which is over 1300 pages, passed with the final roll call of 219-212. Eight Republicans voted for it, 44 Democrats voted against it. If just three of those Republicans had voted against it, H.R. 2454 would have been dead in the water. Sue Myrick of the 9th District and Larry Kissell of the 8th District listened to their constituents and voted against it.
OpenCongress allowed members to vote on the bill on their site. Their numbers did not match Congress's final vote. Roughly 760 people voted against it, while only 101 people voted for it. Many bloggers reported calling their congressmen to vote against the vote and were met with busy ringtones. People were calling. People were letting their congressmen know how they felt—but the politicians voted based on politics.
Now more than ever it is important to call our senators to let them know that we do not want this burden on our families or our economy. Please find the contact information below and call, call, call until you get through.
Another way of protesting the Cap and Trade bill is by going to a Tea Party. On July 4th Charlotte will have another Tea Party and it is critical that everyone who supports the cause against wasteful government spending (whether Democrat, Republican, Moderate, Liberal or Conservative) comes out to be heard:
When: Saturday, July 4th, 11am-3pm
Where: Marshall Park
What: Live music, speakers, Boy Scouts, food, inflatable rides, protesting
Why: To celebrate American Independence. To become educated on issues important to our nation and to learn how to become involved. To voice our opinions on the direction the country is going.
More information and details soon on the Tea Party….
North Carolina Senators and Contact Info:
Richard Burr: 202-224-3154
Kay Hagan: 202-224-6342
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