Cap-and-trade madness heads to Senate

San Diego- First Washington spent a trillion dollars on stimulus without a thorough-reading by Senators or Congressmen; up next cap-and-trade legislation, the largest tax increase in American history.

“There was no reading allowed,” Congressman Brian Bilbray-R-Calif angrily said. “In January there was a mandatory 48-hour read-through process, that didn’t last a month.”

Newly minted President Obama promised a new era of transparency for the American people tired of Washington as usual, what they got according to Bilbray “is the most clandestine government since I’ve been there.”

The topic du jour was referred as tax-and-trade by the Congressman and the legislation is being jammed through by Henry Waxman who has never even run a business or city. “This bill is based on pure politics,” Bilbray said.

“I don’t know how anyone can look at their grandkids and say I was a part of the absurd subsidization of ethanol bio fuel?”

Many outside Washington believe there are better ways to move forward with the environment. For instance, at San Diego’s Scripps Research Institute, they have come up with algae bio fuel.

The researchers at Scripps predict within 10 years they will be able to produce algae bio-fuel for under $2 per gallon. That’s great. They should be able to take some carbon credits with the new cap-and-trade bill right?

Wrong.

Because this company isn’t on a Waxman/Markey special list, the Scripps Institute will be left in the salt water and reap no incentives to save the planet.

The of course there is Aptera Motors of Vista, California. Their new electric hybrid will get more than 100mpg. Certainly they will receive some carbon credits for their obvious environmentally-friendly vehicle?

Wrong, again. They too are not on the list according to Bilbray. If you see a pattern forming here, you would be right. Washington hasn’t changed at all and cap-and-trade has nothing to do with the environment.

“The greatest threat to the environment is the smoke coming from the backroom deals Waxman/Markey are making,” Bilbray contends.

Bilbray knows a thing or two about the environment. He served on the California Air Resources board for six years. “I know how to get EPA approval- this bill wouldn’t fly for 10 seconds.”

In another effort to create a revenue stream through indulgence, cap-and-trade seeks to create clean-coal. Bilbray says that process isn’t even a guarantee and is at least 20 years down the road. “Why are we funding this now?”

“This bill simply states that if you sin, you can buy indulgence through the church of Waxman/Markey and continue to pollute,” Bilbray says.

This brings us to the crux of the bill- the derivative market or buying and selling of carbon credits. Bilbray says this is a story of horrors in waiting.

“This is the biggest scam that has no auditing provisions in place,” according to Bilbray. “The American people are expected to trust the environmental Jimmy Swaggart’s; they are pocketing money in the name of the environment.”

It took the government giving away 85 percent of the tax revenue the first decade to drag this clunker of a bill across the finish line, according to Chris Horner, author of Red Hot Lies. It is estimated that the legislation will create $300 billion in revenue per year.

On top of that revenue or taxation, the government can lower the cap at any time to generate more money, says Horner.

The result of these over-reaching government policies and regulation is a slow domino effect on the economy-starting with the fragile real-estate market. The current bill has language in place to force homeowners to replace everything that is not environmentally friendly, like windows, water heaters, shower Nazi’s and the list goes on.

Ethanol bio fuel has a long and storied past. However, when researchers from Duke University took it to task they said it was better for the planet to-not-plant the crops and suspend production of the $6 per gallon loser.

Bilbray contends that Waxman is asking the American people to take a big leap of faith with cap-and-trade. “If we are wrong, not only does it hurt the economy, but it hurts the environment for the next 150 years,” Bilbray said.

Then why are the majority of Democrats and eight Republicans for this? Why is everyone simply following Waxman?

Bilbray says it’s the classic Emperor in clothes routine. “No one within the Democratic Party wants to stand up and say Waxman is naked!”

The one person who could stand up and end this nonsense is Obama’s new Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu. He is a Nobel Prize winner for Physics in 1997.

Bilbray reports that Dr. Chu spoke at the UN Conference of Global Warming and said climate change is a sham and that ethanol production is a sham. Whether the Secretary of Energy has the courage to stand up to the Obama administration remains to be seen, Bilbray stays optimistic that in the end the right thing will be done.

The UN has even chimed in on America’s cap-and-trade bill according to Horner. “A recent report said cap-and-trade will harm the U.S. economy and competitiveness with world markets.”

Not all Democrats signed on to the cap-and-trade legislation in the House, Congressman Dennis Kucinich-D-OH debated on the floor the morning of the vote.

“I oppose H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The reason is simple. It won’t address the problem. In fact, it will make the problem worse,” he said.

Those are strong words coming from a ranking member in the 111th Democrat congress.

Why then does Congressman Bilbray continue the fight against cap-and-trade?

“My dad told me something a couple a days before he died, you will get here one day (death bed), and I don’t want you to ever regret that you didn’t try.” Bilbray was in the tenth grade.

Fast forward to today. “Those words were so powerful for me.” Then he goes on to quote from a favorite author Mark Twain; “The things you regret in life are not the things you did wrong, but the things you didn’t try to do.”

Bilbray says, “I’ll always continue to try.”

For more stories;

www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m6d30-Cap-and-trade-completely-rewrites-the-American-dream

www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m6d29-Cap-and-tax-passes-quietly-in-Congress