Susan Stamper Brown: Cap and trade would enslave

Granted, the Iraqi people have oil under their soil to fund running Hummers and V8 engines, but so do we. Difference is, Iraqis do not have left-wing soothsayers shoving global-warming-cap-and-trade junk science down their throats.

Guest column: Don't vilify fossil fuels, nuclear power to elevate wind turbines | sheboygan-press.com | Sheboygan Press

The answer to the nation's energy needs is certainly complex and dependent on new and cleaner technology, and there may well be a place for wind and solar. However, the current trend to vilify fossil fuels and nuclear power and to elevate wind and solar to a level of importance they don't deserve is troubling.

Gov. Gregoire has overstepped her authority with policy - Opinion - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

Arguably, no bill received more attention than Gov. Chris Gregoire’s requested legislation House Bill 1819, which would have required Washington businesses to comply with a mandatory cap-and-trade carbon emissions system.

In the end, the Legislature declined to pass the bill. Days later the governor issued Executive Order 09-05 implementing many provisions of the bill, including data reporting and emissions reduction targets for Washington businesses.

As chief executives, governors can certainly act on their own in many areas, but to implement sweeping economic and environmental policy changes that were rejected by the Legislature seems to go beyond her legal authority – a vital concern that Ritzman too easily dismisses.