Obama, Gingrich talk cap-and-trade

While President Obama is in Europe making his sales pitch to the G-8 leaders on cap-and-trade, politicians at home are out in full force trying to cement the largest tax increase in American history.

Confronting the globe’s environmental health problems is going to be a tough sell, when unemployment approaches double digits nationally and America’s inner-gears are in need of a tune-up.

To make matters worse the president needs China and India on board to make any impact on the reduction of CO2 and temperatures. Neither country signed up for any short-term changes, in fact China’s President Hu Jintao left the meetings that Obama had chaired. Ending any hopes of meaningful environmental resolutions.

China made it especially clear at the G8 meeting that they view carbon tariffs in the Waxman-Markey bill as a violation of World Trade Organization rules

The Senate was due to take up the cap-and-trade bill next week, however, due to constituent push back and the tremendous tax increased to be levied on all Americans, the Democrats have put off the vote.

The longer this bill sits out in the open, the more vulnerable it becomes. This is great news for the Republican minority. It gives them a chance to regroup and slow-down the super-majority Democrats.

This is exactly in tune with how local tax advocacy group So-Cal Tax Revolt Coalition feels. “The government wants to audit every aspect of your home life. The bill states every home owner will receive an energy audit,” Leslie Eastman points out.

“It is likely to be conducted by government inspectors who will examine and provide detailed reports on the ways American citizens live directly to RESNET (Residential Energy Services Network).

Eastman contends that many San Diego residents are having a hard time selling their homes; however, cap-and-trade may make that process impossible.

That being said, Newt Gingrich of American Solutions hosted an open line townhall from Washington D.C. to get some facts straight on the cap-and-trade legislation. “My position is real clear, I don’t believe in any energy tax.”

He cites that not only will jobs be driven to China, but it will rob the American people of prosperity and national security. “Americans can be productive with energy; we don’t need to bow down to the dictators in Saudi Arabia or Venezuela.”

Of course, you can’t listen in on Gingrich without “Drill Here, Drill Now.” This townhall was no different. Gingrich however did bring up some interesting points on that topic. He stated that there is more of a chance of an oil spill with oil tankers transporting oil to this country than leaks from oil platforms.

For proof he points to last years’ tremendous hurricane season in the Gulf and there were virtually no breaches in the oil rigs. “Technology is such, that we can safely drill down or slant drill in shale. The bottom line is Americans need to be proactive in producing energy.”

Many of the questions centered on the money that could be generated with proactively searching and capturing American energy resources. Many also felt the country could pull itself out of this economic calamity, by harnessing our resources.

This is great news for California who is an energy rich and out of money. Wait a minute, California sits under the toughest environmental regulations and there will be no energy harnessing to solve the $26 billion budget deficit problem.

Speaking of the Golden State, President Obama made some interesting comments regarding the strength of California’s economy and the state’s success saving energy and creating jobs.

“In the late 1970s, the state of California enacted tougher energy-efficiency policies. Over the next three decades, those policies helped create almost 1.5 million jobs. And today, Californians consume 40 percent less energy per person than the national average- which over time has prevented the need to build at least 24 new power plants. Think about that. California producing jobs, their economy keeping pace with the rest of the country and yet they’ve been able to maintain their energy usage in a much lower level than the rest of the country,” Obama eloquently said.

That statement couldn’t be further from the truth. California is not Disneyland. The state is issuing IOUs, unemployment is higher than the national average, nearly 12 percent, the state imports nearly 50 percent of their crude from foreign nations (even though they enough off the California coast line), and energy costs have risen more than 34 percent since 1990, according to the Energy Information Agency.

Hardly prosperous and hardly something the nation should aspire to.

One last point, Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson, Lisa Jackson said at a cap-and-trade legislation meeting last year that the carbon reductions would be nil. “I believe that essential parts of the chart are that the U.S. action alone will not impact CO2 levels.”

Again, Obama’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu said he did not agree with the chart either and concurred without international cooperation nothing would change.

Begging the question, cap and Tax?


For more stories; www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner~y2009m7d3-Capandtrade-madness-heads-to-Senate