The final Climate and Energy Bill passed the House so diluted with special interest bribes that It defeats what was represented to be its original objectives. Have you read the over 1,000 pages of the bill on which you are asked to sign? Cap & Trade is a prime example of the legislation which has been rushed through from the inception of the economic downtown with dire consequences to your constituents whom you are elected to represent.

While avoiding the underlying question, the proposed legislation would have a trivial effect on global warming while imposing substantial costs to the American householders. While avoiding the underlying question, the proposed legislation would have a trivial effect on global warming while imposing substantial costs to the American householders. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that its resulting increase in consumer required to achieve l5% CO2 reduction will raise the cost of living initially by $1600 per year per household with future costs significantly higher. Higher prices will relate to every manufactured goods, companies moving offshore, resulting in fewer jobs and higher unemployment WITH LITTLE EFFECT ON GLOBAL WARMING.

What effects does Cab & Trade have?

1. It interferes with positive solutions to Global Warming/ Solving global warming means solving how to keep most remaining fossel fuels in the ground.

2. It squanders resources and ingenuity on the wrong things. t squanders resources and ingenuity on the wrong things. S. Korea, the firm of Rhodia has profited 30% more selling carbon credits with NO GAINS.

3. It requires knowledge we don’t have and interferes with positive solutions to Global Warming.. Progressive California calls carbon training a “charade to continue business as usual.” – more construction of new fossel fuel fired power plants instead of focusing on building a green economy to provide new jobs for power communities.

4. It is based on faith not experience. Carbon trading – the centerpiece of the Kyoto Protocol and Europe’s response to climate change – the EU Emissions Trading Scheme has FAILED.

5. Cap & Trade is Antidemocratic.

WHO BENEFITS? Who Benefits? Big fossel fuel using companies; hedge funds, commodities traders, banks and law firms, i.e. ENRON, WorldCom, LTCM and the subprime mortgage market.

WHO LOSES? Once again – the American people. Cap and Trade is likely to be the biggest tax in American history.

Fred and Renee DeKlotz

The world’s governments could simply set emission limits for each industry and reduce them every year, fining anyone who doesn’t comply. This would NOT be a market solution, but pure regulation. Cap & Trade however, allows for each emitter to choose whether they want to invest in cleaner energy, or pay the real cost of those emissions.

That’s something else Murphy completely ignores: the consumer (and even those NOT consuming) are already paying a price. It is an abstract price in the ecological effects of excess CO2 emissions. By assigning a market-driven cost, the emitters – and their consumers – are being held responsible for those costs.

And yes, it is market driven. Let’s take Murphy’s example of permits being issued for 90% of the previous year’s emissions. If everyone reduces their emissions by 90%, then the extra cost is ZERO. Companies suddenly have an incentive to reduce their consumption. For example, it is extremely easy to turn off computers at night, but many companies have little incentive to enforce this.

The U.S. already ran a cap & trade program for SO2(sulfur dioxide) in the 90s. Immediately, businesses cut down emissions and fell way below the threshold. For the next few years, they actually INCREASED emissions because they still had some flexibility, before the restrictions clamped down again. The total cost to the industries was between 20-30% of expectation.