Cap and Trade Legislation: Will Charging More for Carbon Emissions help our environment, or kill our economy?

[Pat Coyle]

Cap and Trade has got both sides of the aisle talking. Democrats, and left leaning media like the NY Times have one perspective, while the Wall St. Journal and many other media see it differently.
NY Times - Cap and trade is a regulatory system that sets a government limit on overall emissions of pollutants like the heat-trapping gases scientists have linked to global warming-- the "cap." It then allows utilities, manufacturers and other emitters to "trade" pollution permits, or allowances, among themselves.

President Obama, Democratic leaders in Congress, mainstream environmental groups and a growing number of business interests, including energy-consuming industries like autos, steel and aluminum, view cap and trade as the lowest-cost solution to a global pollution problem. The approach has been embraced as an alternative to top-down regulatory schemes which would simply levy taxes on harmful emissions.

Wall St Journal - The hit to GDP is the real threat in this bill. The whole point of cap and trade is to hike the price of electricity and gas so that Americans will use less. These higher prices will show up not just in electricity bills or at the gas station but in every manufactured good, from food to cars. Consumers will cut back on spending, which in turn will cut back on production, which results in fewer jobs created or higher unemployment. Some companies will instead move their operations overseas, with the same result.

Americans should know that those Members who vote for this climate bill are voting for what is likely to be the biggest tax in American history. Even Democrats can't repeal that reality.

How do you see it? Could Cap and Trade help our environment without killing our economy? Share your thoughts here

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[Colin Vaughan]

I think you are on the right track but would caution the questioning of global warming and the viral aspect humans have on the development of this planet. The taxes and where they go is still cloudy with reference to supporting green initiatives. Nevertheless innovation must be spurred especially in a state that has sat back on the heel of manufacturing and lost its spark of creative solutions. This is an opportunity for the state to push into a new energy age and develop some significant growth because we have so much room to grow and available tools. I am glad to see that we have a new company, Bright Automotive, making waves internationally with their new 100 mpg Delivery vehicle the IDEA. Check it out at www.brightautomotive.com.

Overall great thought on the economic effect this bill will have. I especially like the "we consume more than any nation on a percentage basis, but we ALSO PRODUCE AND GIVE MORE THAN ANY NATION ON EARTH."

Here are some websites for references: www.Fairpowernow.org is a site that speaks against the bills while the Hoosier Environmental Council www.hecweb.org speaks for it. As most of my views in politics a common ground needs to be met.

[Robby Slaughter]

At first glance, cap and trade does not make sense. Defining the right to harm the public as a trading commodity seems like a terrible idea.

However, past efforts using this technique have been effective. They provide a way for companies that have room to innovate to get money from those who are polluting. So strangely, cap and trade can work.

I'm not sure if it's the right approach for the current problem, especially considering our conservation efforts have barely begun to scratch the surface. Why are we trying to find ways to make energy cleaner when we waste so much to begin with?

[Mike Seidle]

Cap and trade, if passed will be the death of the Democratic party and will be toxic to every politician who voted for it. The effects of this thing will linger on for decades (and it will not be clean air and water - just shuttered factories, poverty and urban decay). People need to understand that by making production more expensive in the US, all you do is guarantee the death of American manufacturing.

That said, something does need to be done about energy. Instead of investing in cap and trade, perhaps more investment in infrastructure for electric and hydrogen?

[Steve Stuck]

Remember who invented carbon Cap-n-Trade......Enron.

Follow the money and you will be wiser.

[Cissi Sherlock]

I rallied against cap and trade and even assisted in an email campaign.

I wonder if those who are for cap and trade realize that on of the stipulations buried in the 1300-plus page document is that homeowners won't be able to sell their homes with out spending thousands of dollars to make them energy efficient. the home will have to be federally inspected and approved. so, if there is a leak in your basement, of a crack in your ceiling or a slight draft from a window - all things that are currently negotiable with new owners.

OK, those examples might be weak. Let's move to the big daddy!

All homeowners will be required to put new energy-efficient, solar-reflecting shingles on their home before selling. This will be subject ot inspections, as well.

Bottom line - people won't be able to afford to sell their homes. Upgrading them to cap and trade requirements will break their pocketbooks and break their hearts.

The sad thing about any of the current political dealings is that they are charging us for everything, especially in a down economy. They want to take cap and trade out of our pockets, They want to take health care out of our pockets.

How can we pay for all of this when, we - the people, just don't have the money.

And, I would like for people who are proponents of Universal Health care to understand that if that is made into law, those of us who cannot afford it will become criminals. I have known this for a while and have been string to spread the word. But my little voice is not enough.

Check out today's Indy Star and also check out what's happening in Baltimore, Maryland where they are issuing warrants for the arrest employers who cannot afford the health care, therefore cannot afford the fine. Just thing what it will be like when they start issuing warrant for the common man when we can't pay.

Adds new meaning to "jail overcrowding"!

[Cissi Sherlock]

Let me correct myself.

The article about health care appeared in the Indy Star on Friday and is buried on page A4.

People need to know these things so that they can make informed decisions and notify their politicians that they are tired of the BS. There are so many things that citizens trust their politicians to take care of - and they don't.

It's a crock!

We - the people, need to be armed with information so that the system can work for us - and so our politicians can work for us, as well They forgot who's paying them.

Environmental zealots had better do their homework before they end up cutting off all our noses to spite our faces!

[Tino Marquez Jr.]

Amen. I'm sick of our elected officials voting on 1300 page documents that there is NO WAY they completely understand every bullet point or thought, let alone probably even read the entire thing in its entirety. This seems to be an all too common tactic of politicians any more is to bury us in information so we are never quite informed enough...in time to have an opinion one or the other before it is too late.

How can any of them in good conscious vote “yes” or “no” on any bill they have not read all the way through or debated in length? They tried to sneak this one through and were served well by the unfortunate passing of MJ.

[Cissi Sherlock]

Unfortunately, Tino, Congress made a boo-boo and did sneak it through. Two Indiana congressman voted for it. On their salaries, a congressman can afford it. WE CAN'T!

We are going to have to get to our senators and let them know that with or without the vaseline, it doesn't feel good. STOP CAP AND TRADE. I am reading where there are viable groups who are supporting portions of it, therefore supporting the whole bill while not realizing that support of the entire bill will destroy the U.S.

Food for thought - I am looking for them to outlaw gasoline powered cars, just like they did analog TV and incandescent light bulbs. As long as it works for a politician or a lobbyist, screw the little man, the working man, the MAN who pays their salaries!