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Cap and Trade Bill: Good First Step |
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The U.S. Congress took a step forward toward a national policy that helps clean up the environment and create good green jobs, but there is still work to do, union leaders say today.
The American Clean Energy and Security Act, which passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday, would set a national ceiling on greenhouse gas emissions and let polluting industries buy and sell credits to meet it. This “cap-and-trade” system would limit harmful human-generated emissions and, hopefully, speed up development of renewable energy sources, create green jobs and help reduce our dependence on oil.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the bill, as currently marked up, “makes significant, job-creating investments, while attempting to minimize impacts on existing workers.”
The AFL-CIO supports cap-and-trade legislation that takes a balanced approach towards an economy wide-program and prevents foreign competitors from getting advantages over American companies.
But at the same time, Sweeney called on Congress to continue to improve the bill:
Congress should continue to improve the legislation. We recommend that the Energy Information Administration (EIA) do a full economic analysis before the bill is voted on and make the results available to members and the public.
Addressing the issues of climate change and energy policy is of immense importance. We must do it properly to prevent harmful effects on America’s workers.
Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts praised the bill for recognizing the key role that coal mining can play in the nation’s energy future.
Coal is America’s most abundant energy resource. We have more coal than any nation on earth. As the debate over climate change has evolved over the past two decades, we have not only insisted on the preservation of coal mining jobs, but argued as well for the essential part that coal plays in sustaining our national economy and ensuring our independence from foreign oil.
Meanwhile, Blue Green Alliance Executive Director David Foster calls the bill, introduced by Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.), “a positive step toward ensuring that the U.S. addresses its climate and energy challenges while shifting to a clean energy economy that provides good jobs in green manufacturing and skilled construction trades.”
By tackling these challenges together, we can make job creation and environmental integrity the two keys to our country’s future prosperity.
The Blue Green Alliance is a national partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of green jobs in the United States.
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No patriotic and informed American can support the global warming/cap and trade scam, more fraudulent than any Nigerian scam. Cap and trade is a huge tax on the poor and the middle class designed to give dictatorial powers to Obama and to further enrich his billionaire friends (Gore, Soros, Goldman Sachs, Obama’s Chicago Climate Exchange friends, GE, etc.) — all at our expense and at the expense of our children and grandchildren.
Cap and Trade “would be the equivalent of an atomic bomb directed at the U.S. economy—all without any scientific justification,” said famed climatologist Dr. S. Fred Singer. It would significantly increase taxes and the cost of energy, forcing many companies to close, thus increasing unemployment, poverty and dependence.
Those brainwashed to the point of wanting to destroy the economy to “prevent global warming” are behaving like the most primitive human beings, who were duped into believing that human sacrifices would ensure them good weather. Human beings don’t have the power to control climate! And killing the economy will not help the environment. Just look at Haiti!
More and more scientists and thinking people all over the world are realizing that man-made global warming is a hoax that threatens our future and the future of our children. More than 700 international scientists dissent over man-made global warming claims. They are now more than 13 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media-hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/3562/218/
Additionally, more than 30,000 American scientists have signed onto a petition that states, “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.” http://www.petitionproject.org
We pray that honest leaders – both Democrat and Republican - are able to save us from Obama’s criminal global warming/cap-and-trade scam.
Obama became President to carry on the economic and political agenda of the corporate ruling elite. Global warming will continue as corporate polluters are allowed to continue to make profit out of polluting industries.
Wars in the Middle East and Central Asia will continue slaughtering millions of people to the profit of the oil companies and the military-industrial complex.
Public schools and public health for millions will be sacrificed to avoid taxing
the wealthy and the corporations. Obama’s health plans exclude “single-payer” health insurance to the profit of privatized health corporations.
An end to this entire global system of capitalist exploitation of humanity is essential if humanity is to survive.
A new direction for the labor movement must be to end being a “business partner” to corporate destruction of working people. Break with the Democratic Party and form a new socialist political party.
Socialism, the management of the economy “of, by and for” working people,
is essential for the survival of humanity.
Read http://www.wsws.org
Pollution will never end under “Cap and Trade”. as poluters continue to maximize profit by buying “credits” rather than ending pollution.
There is no such thing as “clean coal”. Clean coal “technology” does not actually exist except as a buzz word for corporate controlled Obama.
What is need? Nationalize the ENTIRE energy industry: coal, oil, nuclear, gas, electric, etc.
Why?
To end the wars in the Middle East (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.) which are motivated by Cheney’s oil industry.
To end oil pollution environmental damage around the world. Exxon, earning historic profits in the last several quarters, still does not clean up the Valdez oil spill. Vast damage in the Amazon, in Africa, will then be cleaned up.
To convert use of oil to sustainable energy systems.
To prvent any more nuclear power reactors being built.
To end the massive damage done by the coal industry in literally destroying entire mountains, dumping the waste into hundreds of streams and rivers.
To start the long process of ending the pollutions and environmental damage
by converting to non-polluting energy systems and sustainable energy systems.
The income provided by jobs in polluting industries should be fully maintained for workers while new jobs are being created. Their wages are miniscule compared to the devastaton caused by these polluting industries!
The corporations have bought and paid for Obama’s election and owns the
Democratic Party. This “Good First Step” legislation is a BAD STEP BACKWARDS!
This is just one more example of how the Labor movement has lost it’s mind. The Obama administration has hired people to “re brand” global warming because more people are realizing what a farce it is.
Has anyone bought the ridiculous “re branding’ of terrorist attacks to man made disasters? Are there that many stupid people in this country?
I have mixed feeling on this subject. On one hand, this must be done; cap and trade is needed for a variety of reasons, including the economy and national defense. On the other, tax increases are a reality for its take money to start and maintain such an ambitious project.
True, some do not believe in global warming. Sad, they probably believe storks brings families a baby and the world is flat, the sun revolves around the earth with their scientific acumen.
One way to avoid steep tax increases is to nationalize the entire energy industry. That is an option not talked about.
Cap and trade is a scam to enrich stock market traders who will create a global market in a new kind of “toxic asset,” at the expense of working people and the environment. Commenters who deny that global climate change is caused by human pollution, industry, waste and overconsumption, are either deeply deluded or on the payroll of pollluters.
More sane solutions were proposed by Ralph Nader, who would make a far better president than Obama, including a higher carbon tax rather than rewarding polluters with fake financial schemes to buy and sell credits that are capped too low to make much difference anyway.
And the bill does need to be re-worked, including making sure there are no subsidies for construction of toxic nuclear plants or destructive coal mining. We could eliminate the need for coal and nuclear through conservation, retro-fitting, weatherization, and developing real renewable energy sources.