One bill could destroy the quality of life and jobs in most of America
Perhaps the most destructive legislation in our country’s history will soon be voted on in the United States House of Representatives – the Waxman/Markey Tax Bill in the guise of addressing climate change. It will have adverse and lingering consequences for every American. It will raise the cost of electricity in our homes, the fuel for our cars, and the energy which produces our manufacturing jobs, with little or no environmental benefit. Further, independent experts estimate that it will cost Americans more than $2 trillion in just over eight years. All Americans in the Midwest, South and Rocky Mountain regions will be most drastically affected because the climate change legislation will destroy the nation’s coal industry and the low-cost electricity it has provided to these regions for generations. Wealth will be transferred away from almost every state to the West coast and New England.
The most abundant and by far least expensive energy source in our country for generating electricity is coal. America’s coal reserves rival the energy potential of Saudi Arabian oil. Unfortunately, the proposed climate change legislation in the House of Representatives, the Waxman/Markey Bill, forces America to throw away this tremendous resource, and our low cost electricity with it.
The legislation sets an unattainable cap on carbon dioxide emissions by 2020, with the first reductions due by 2012. Under the program, businesses that emit carbon dioxide would be required to purchase or obtain from the government special carbon dioxide credits. This carbon dioxide cap will force utilities to switch from lower cost coal to natural gas or other more expensive energy sources. Reliable estimates show that this bill will cost each American family at least $3,000 more for energy each year. The chief executive of one of the nation’s major utilities recently said it best in the Wall Street Journal stating, “The 25 states that depend on coal for more than 50 percent of their electricity…will have to shut down and replace the majority of their fossil fuel plants as a result of the climate change legislation.”
The supporters of this ill-conceived legislation point to two provisions that they claim will help coal. The first is that they give electric utilities free credits. However, those credits are worth millions of dollars, and the utilities will be free to sell the credits and use the proceeds to build more expensive natural gas or nuclear power plants, and not use our lowest cost fuel – coal. Second, the authors of the legislation invest money in carbon capture and storage technology, claiming that this will save jobs. But, this technology will not be commercially available for at least 15 to 20 years, long after the reductions are required in 2012 and long after our coal plants are shut down and our manufacturing jobs are exported to China, India and other countries. All of these countries have stated that they will not place any restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions. China alone, which has surpassed the United States in carbon dioxide emissions, brings a new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plant on line every week. They will have low cost electricity and America will massively export more jobs to them.
It is not too late to tell Congress to kill this flawed bill. Everyone should call your representative in Congress and ask him or her to vote NO on the Waxman/Markey climate bill (otherwise known as cap and tax) and support affordable energy, American jobs and our quality of life.
Robert E. Murray
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
Murray Energy Corporation
Pull out your current electric bill and note its amount. Put it aside, and compare it in 3 years to what you are charged then. Then add in the increased gasoline costs you pay, the higher grocery costs (oh I haven’t seen a farm tractor that runs on wind or solar, and Schnucks will have to pay way higher commercial electric rates).
We will have to shut down our coal plants while China ramps up a new one EVERY WEEK! We won’t drill or mine our own oil and oil shale. How is this leading to energy independence?
Killer law aside for a second, the legislature & executive branch are clearly acting like some crazed lunatic. They pile on thousand-plus pages of bills that nobody reads, I guess so they can be rushed through. If that’s their role, then why not strive for a more efficient machine and outsource their jobs to China. At least then, we could cut the staffing & printing cost. Furthermore, I think China’s politicians are mostly engineers, whereas ours is mostly [stunted] lawyers.
I wonder if this banana republic (once its suicide has set in) will even be able to deliver bananas – I will miss them and countless other post-dark-ages luxuries I’ve grown accustomed to.
Robert C. Murray is a liar, and he is habitual violator of safe coal-mining practices.
He certainly has no expertise on comprehensive energy policy. Remember the Crandall Canyon, Utah (2007) disaster? Nine mine personnel killed, six remain entombed in the workings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Murray
Notice the recycled terms that were used in the “need” to pass the ‘Stimulus’ bill.
“My call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this. We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past. Don’t believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth.”
That is a huge contradiciton! Gov’ts don’t create jobs. Business creates jobs.
Obama said the bill would create jobs (just like ’stimulus’ did?), make renewable energy profitable and decrease America’s dependence on foreign oil (borrowing from Bush speeches now?).
“It will spur the development of low-carbon sources of energy — everything from wind, solar and geothermal power to safer nuclear energy and cleaner coal (no such thing),” he said.
Wind, solar and geothermal are already available! They don’t need to be developed! They need to be utilized! Iceland has been using geothermal for years and it powers and warms the entire city of Reykjavik.
“In California alone, Obama said, 3,000 people will be employed to build a new solar plant that will create 1,000 permanent jobs.”
Whoppee-do. That means 2,000 people will be out of work - again, after it’s built. California is already at a record 11.5% unemplyment rate. Owe-bama thinks that passing and collecting cap and trade taxes from you to pay for a 1,000 jobs will make a dent in that percentage? I wonder how people in other states feel about their unemployment while O goes on about California’s and wants them to pay for it?
One of the last major pieces of legislation passed by a congress which never actually read the document was the ‘Stimulus’ Bill or the US Patriot Act.
And we know just how much of a body blow to the Constitution and Bill of Rights that was.
This is a complete fraud, and will do nothing to actually help the environment.
It will, with what will be essentially a surcharge on energy you use, make certain individuals more filthy rich than they already are.
Here are the Congressional Representatives who voted FOR the Cap and Tax bill from MO.
Carnahan, Russ, Missouri, 3rd
Clay Jr., William “Lacy”, Missouri, 1st
Cleaver, Emanuel, Missouri, 5th
Skelton, Ike, Missouri, 4th
Make sure you thank them when:
-your cost of living increases by $3,000.00 a year.
-the bill does not make a substantive impact on the environment.
-our manufacturing jobs are outsourced and free trade is threatened.
-your tax money is used for fraud and corruption.
-as President Obama Admitted himself announced that “Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket” under a cap-and-trade program. (San Francisco, January 2008)
-when you are made to choose between energy, groceries, clothing or haircuts.
-the ones hurt most are the Senior Citizens, the Poor, and the Unemployed.
Make sure you thank them most when the KILL more and more American jobs.
Now contact your Senators and tell them that Cap and Trade is a farce, ANY kind of Cap and Trade. For every one “green” job created, 2.5 jobs are lost, need some proof check out what the “green” movement has done to Spain’s unemployment rate, currently at 18%. If they tell you that the tax will be on corporations, remember that corporations do not pay taxes, INDIVIDUALS pay taxes. That means they will pass them on to you.
Watch out, our country is changing into a Marxist state at an alarming rate; it is up to us to protect ourselves, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, free enterprise, and CAPITALISM.
AM Lutz – purely technically speaking, you’re wrong. Apparently – in addition to not having read the bill (who could plow through 1000+ pages so quickly?) – the bill was not even written. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/06/023909.php
They don’t write the bills, they don’t read the bills, they don’t live by the bills. As this crazy system continues to spin out of control, I can only assume the next phase will be to skip that pesky election cycle thing and declare their post for life.
“Reliable estimates show that this bill will cost each American family at least $3,000 more for energy each year.” - this has been widely debunked - it will be closer to $175 per year according to the CBO. A small price for saving the planet.
We can’t sit around and wait for China - we should lead the way as we have always done.
If we don’t fix the climate change problem, there will be NO quality of life… there will be no life.
YOu climate change idiots are so stupid that its not funny anymore. Are you people that naive and arrogant that first off you believe this hogwash and secondly that you wiping your butt with 1 tissue of toilet paper is going to change a thing.
It is absolutely astounding to me that people like you can exist day to day. You believe the sky is falling crap no matter what is said to you.
This bill will cost Americans money and jobs. Those jobs will go to other countries. When will you people get it? Oh, I said jobs. I forgot, you dont want jobs, then thats an excuse for the real producers to pay for your lazy butts!
Superdave,
We won’t really know what it will cost us, if it manages to get by the Senate, using reconciliation, because NOBODY READ THE DAMNED THING! I am curious to hear from even the most staunch liberals onto why this is a good thing.
I suspect you are right that NOBODY READ THE DAMN THING. That of course means we have reps voting for a bill they don’t fully understand and reps voting against a bill they don’t fully understand. We have some arguing for a bill they haven’t read and therefore don’t understand and we have others (like you) arguing against a bill they haven’t read and don’t fully understand. How did we get to this point? I just think you are pushing talking points for Pigbaugh and O’Idiot and you think the other side is on a Messianic mission. At times it seems like this whole blog thing is just everbody blowing smoke up everbody elses ass. PR, BS and spin run our world. Ideas, logic and thought process seem to be relics of another time.