Cap and Trade
Where to begin? The Waxman-Markey bill, the “Amerian Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009″, is designed to stop the threat of global warming. The legislated course for doing this is through the following key provisions*:
- Require electric utilities to meet 20% of their demand through renewal energy sources and efficiencies by 2020
- Mandate new energy savings standards for buildings, appliances and industry.
- Reduce US carbon emissions by 17% by 2020, based on 2005 levels.
- Invest in new clean energy technologies using a Cap and Trade System.
The Cap and Trade program places a value on CO2 emissions. The Authors believe that with the appropriate value placed on CO2 emissions, industries that can more easily reduce their emissions may sell their allowances to other businesses that cannot. The Cap setting the top limit of allowable emissions and the Trade taking place to maintain it.
As a company who worked with the California Energy Commission of the Methanol program two decades ago and who for a blink of an eye was the largest importer of ethanol in California (does anyone remember Gasohol? I didn’t think so) we are the ultimate middle man. If you buy it, we will sell it. But to watch the government try to mandate technology and consumer behavior in the name of the environment (MTBE anyone?) to the detriment of our country and its economy is irritating to put it mildly. Does it ever work? Rarely, very rarely. In fact in California, if the politicians really want to reduce emissions, they should just issue carpool lane passes to the people that accumulate the most CO2 savings. It is the carrot, no stick necessary, and it seems to have worked before…
My Best – Mary
If you want to be heard, follow this link www.voicesforenergy.com to a website created by Valero. It allows you to send a message to your representatives in Washington, DC and let them know you are concerned. You can use the boiler plate language, or write your own. (Full disclosure- Valero is the largest refiner in North America, but it was also voted the Best Big Company to Work for by Fortune Magazine nine years running, is a fervent supporter of the United Way and is in the renewable fuels business.)
If you want to do your own research, try the links below. Think about how it may affect you, your company, your family and your country.
- HR 2454 (The bill itself – over 1,400 pages)
- Waxman-Markey: Homeowners, Small Businesses, and Farmers Hit the Hardest
- Cap and Trade for Dummies – What Everyone Should Know
- Summary of Waxman-Markey (Enviro-viewpoint)
