Congressman Latta speaks out against Cap and Trade
Kirk Dougal Brown Publishing Correspondent
WASHINGTON D.C. - After more than a week of late night meetings and changes, a version of the Waxman-Markey Bill, or cap and trade, passed through its U.S House of Representatives committee by a vote of 33-25 on Thursday. Ohio's Fifth Congressional District Representative Bob Latta talked to the Times Bulletin on Friday morning and spoke about just how much the passage would affect the area.
"We have a situation where the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said it will cost at least $1,600 per family (in expenses) but MIT is saying it could be as high as $3,128 per family while the Heritage Foundation is showing around $4,000 extra per family, per year," said Latta. "First, American families can't afford this and second, American businesses can't afford it."
Cap and trade opponents have labeled the legislation as a new tax that disproportinately affects the Midwest industrial belt and lower income families. It would tax businesses for any carbon emissions produced during the course of their business. The cost of those taxes would be felt in two different areas: employment and rising costs.
Ohio's most recent state unemployment figures were also announced on Friday and the jobless rate has climbed from 9.7 percent last month to 10.2 percent. Some analysts are predicting the cap and trade will cost America 844,000 jobs per year because of companies moving them out of the country to avoid the tax. With most of those jobs coming from manufacturing, Ohio will be hit very hard.
"The Heritage Foundation took the number of manufacturing jobs in your (congressional)district and then combined it with the amount of coal energy that you have in your state," said Latta. "That means our district is the third most vulnerable district (in the U.S.)."
The Wall Street Journal reported two months ago that the six least affected states by passage of the bill are those with the lowest amount of manufacturing jobs and also have the congresspeople most interested in having cap and trade pass. Those states in order are Rhode Island, New York, California, Vermont, Connecticutt and Massachusetts. That list includes the home states of the two authors Henry Waxman (California) and Ed Markey (Massachusetts).
The Obama administration has claimed from the start of this process that all those manufacturing jobs that will be lost to other countries like Mexico and China will be made up by new "green" jobs. However, Spain, which is already dealing with its own version of a cap and trade law, reports it has lost 2.2 jobs for every one it has gained in return. Latta pointed out that China and India have both already declared their countries will not be passing cap and trade laws.
"The way this is going to work, anybody who is emitting any carbon is going to get hit (with a tax)," said Latta. "If you are a utility company, you are going to have to pass those costs along to your consumer - residential, small businesses, farmers and your manufacturers. We have a lot of manufacturers across our district who are having a hard time as it is."
Latta pointed out that if Americans do not have jobs, they will continue to hold onto their money for just the necessities. They will not spend money on new cars and new appliances, depressing the demand for durable goods and lengthening the ongoing recession.
Reader Comments Posted: Thursday, May 28, 2009
Article comment by:
James
Rmoen (and I'm sure others)say that we need our own object climate commission that isn't associate with the UN. Well, we already do- The National Academy of Sciences.
A quote from one of their recent publications- Restructureing Federal Climate Research to Meet the Challenges of Climate Change- "A strong scientific consensus has developed that the observed large warming trend of the late twentieth century will continue unabated in the coming decades and that human activities are the major drivers for many of the observed changes."
Congressman Latta is on the wrong side of the science. The evidence indicates we need to act on climate change now or face a world far less habitable for humans.
Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Article comment by:
AntonioSosa
Rmoen, we do have objective scientific assessments of global warming.
More than 700 international scientists have expressed their 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
Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Article comment by:
AntonioSosa
You are right, Rmoen. The UN, an anti-U.S. corrupt organization, is behind the Cap and trade. Additionally, Obama and his billionaire friends (Gore, Soros, Goldman Sachs, Obama’s Chicago Climate Exchange friends, GE, etc.) have been working on this scam for years. Obama plans to use to impose socialism/communism on and and his friends to multiply his billions -- all of it at our expense and at the expense of our children and grandchildren.
Cap and trade represents huge taxes and cost increases, which will hurt mostly the poor and the middle class.
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. Poor countries can’t protect the environment. Just look at Haiti!
Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Article comment by:
Rmoen
Cap and trade is crazy. Effectively, we Americans will be adding an additional tax to our energy bills. Why are we about to do this? Because the United Nations shouts 'climate crisis'. The problem with the scenario is that the United Nations is a political organization riddled with power grabbing and backroom deals. Why the heck are we relying on them for scientific judgment? Why aren't we listening to an American climate commission? We don't have one, that's why. As I said, it's crazy.
The underlying premise of cap and trade--that CO2 drives global warming--is based on United Nations' climate reports that are tainted by politics and agenda. Plus, there's been a lot of new climate discoveries since Kyoto that are omitted from the reports. Frankly, the reports don't pass the smell test -- see www.energyplanusa.com . America needs our own objective scientific assessment of global warming. I am a Democrat who for the past 20 years believed global warming was caused by CO2. I've had my doubts but now after reading the UN reports I realize that all along the fix was in. The UN reports are politics not science. We need our own objective climate commission to think through the global warming and CO2 issues.
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