Global Warming Bill Isn’t About Saving the Environment or Protecting the Consumer
Nicolas Loris /
Policymakers made it quite clear consumers will be hurt by a cap and trade bill. They also made it clear that this isn’t an environmental issue. It’s strictly politics. Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) modified their global warming cap and trade proposal to win support from skeptical congressmen, but when any policymakers introduced modifications to protect the consumer and American businesses, Members promptly voted the amendments down.
The first was an amendment that would void the legislation within a year without a deal with India and China. A second would have voided the bill if gas prices surpassed to $5-a-gallon. The third would void legislation if unemployment reached 15 percent. And a fourth provision would have repealed “the entire law if the average retail price of electricity sold to residential sector goes up by more than 10 percent in one or more census divisions.” The fact that $5-a-gallon gas and 15% unemployment were set as benchmarks should be a red flag to any energy bill. What’s worse is that all four amendments failed to pass.