Cap And Trade legislation does not even purport to eliminate the consumption of oil in America, why do the proponents of the legislative seek to prohibit or at least severely curtail the production of oil in America? Why do they seek to severely curtail the refining of petroleum in America? If we are going to continue to consume oil but we are not going to be able to produce it, does that mean we must import it? If we must imported, does that means we must export dollars? Same questions for coal?
Accepting as gospel the promises made by the proponents of the legislation including the chimerical notion that pouring billions of dollars into windmills and solar panels will somehow make them economically competitive with oil (and coal) and further that this can be so economically attractive that we can transition away from oil, how long will it take? How much oil will we have to import during this transition period? Why must the oil be imported? Why don't we expand domestic production during this transition period? If the proponents of the legislation are wrong, would it not be better to have producing fields to compensate for the failure of the transition to windmills and solar? If the transition succeeds, would it not be economically advantageous to have surplus oil to export?
Let us assume that we all run around in battery operated cars charged by windmills and solar panels, what will the Chinese be driving? Will the Chinese observe the protocols of the Kyoto treaty? Is it not obvious that the Chinese will not do so for they have already rejected it? Are not the Chinese building a coal burning power plant at the rate of about one week? So even though America eliminates the consumption of oil, is there any reason to believe that the Third World will do so? Have not the Chinese and the Indians already made it plain that they will not do so? What contribution does it make in solving the alleged problem of climate change if only America and Western Europe are reducing CO2 emissions? Is not Western Europe reneging on its pledges to reduce CO2 emissions to Kyoto standards?
Assuming that the provisions which were originally in the bill to put tariffs on goods imported from countries which do not operate on windmills and solar panels becomes part of the legislation, what is to prevent the world from cascading into the deepest recession in history caused by a replay of the calamitous Smoot-Hawley tariffs which plunged the world into the Great Depression?
If our legislation does not contain provisions for imposing tariffs, what will we do about global warming if the majority of the people on this earth do not comply and decline to live on windmills and solar panels? Will the provisions of the Cap and Trade law avail anything? Will we have paid massive taxes for nothing?
If the idea is to eliminate CO2 emissions, why are the proponents of the bill opposed to nuclear power?
Will the taxes imposed by Cap and Trade on the consumption of energy be offset by the creation of jobs in green industry, that is, will enough people be put to work making windmills and solar panels to compensate for the massive loss of growth and jobs caused by the energy tax? How do we know? If the calculations, or assumptions, of the proponents of the bill are wrong and the effect of Cap and Trade is to eliminate millions of jobs without replacing green jobs, and the country afford such a mistake at these difficult economic times?
Will the government not have to impose arbitrary quotas on CO2 emissions? Will the government not have to monitor those emissions for virtually every business in America? Will not virtually every business and perhaps every family in America be required to file annual compliance statements, much like federal income tax returns? Will these statements have to be audited? Will this process generate a massive set of regulations and experts to interpret those regulations, prosecute and defend violators, and negotiate the regulators? Will this not generate huge expenses for private industry and for the government? Is it likely that such a complicated system will generate corruption?
When the president said during the campaign that he would bankrupt the coal industry, is Cap and Trade the way he intends to do it?
Is the science of global climate change well enough established to risk increasing taxes, increasing dependence on foreign oil, job losses, worsening economic situation, potential trade wars, energy shortages, widespread corruption, and loss of individual liberties?
