Durango Herald News, U.S. Rep John Salazar was right: Cap-and-trade bad for Colorado

Co-ops will have to purchase the remainder from a government-run auction or through the market, similar to a commodities exchange. The price of the allowances will be set by market conditions, with no cap to protect consumers if market prices for allowances increase beyond reason.

If having to play the market to keep the lights on won't be bad enough, other utilities will be on the other side of the trade - by virtue of receiving allowances based on their sales and well above their actual CO2 emissions. They stand to make millions of dollars. In fact, one eastern utility CEO recently told shareholders that his nuclear-fueled utility stands to make $1 billion dollars a year - some of which will come from Colorado's rural electric consumers.

Salazar was the state's lone Democrat to understand this wealth transfer isn't good for the Centennial State and its ratepayers.

Cap and Tax is Not a Prescription for Economic Health | Flathead Beacon

The cap and tax policy the House passed in late June amounts to amputating an economic limb to cure an environmental hangnail. While the benefit is negligible, the economic cost of this amputation is severe – and it hits Montanans particularly hard.


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In fact, far from addressing climate change, cap and tax acts more as an energy redistribution policy from producing states like Montana to energy using-states like California and Florida.

Health care providers swear to “above all else, do no harm,” and we should expect nothing less from those we’ve elected to oversee the health of our economy. Montana needs jobs, not social engineering from Washington, D.C. that puts the interests of San Franciscans over the livelihoods of Montanans. We need an all-of-the-above energy solution that drives the economy and that really does work for everyone.
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Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg, a Republican, is a member of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee

Heritage’s Ben Lieberman Sets the Record Straight on Europe’s Cap and Trade Experience » The Foundry

As of late, when it comes to policymaking in Washington D.C., the trendy thing to do has been to point to Europe. Our Members of Congress are doing it with two of the largest reform policies currently on the table: health care and energy. With regards to energy, advocates of a cap and trade program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions say if Europe can do it, so can we. But the reality is we’re lucky Europe’s gone through with a cap and trade program because it is a perfect example of what not to do.

The Global Warming Debate - KLFY TV 10 - Acadiana's Local News, Weather and Sports Leader |

As a forecaster I'll tell you this. Forecasting in the short-term is fairly accurate compared to forecasting long-term. So if these climate models are so far off already, there's really little chance of them being right further out. That's because there's much more driving the climate than carbon dioxide.

There are so many variables at work, known and unknown, that not a single person, or computer model, can predict the future climate for sure.

Just know this; climate change has occurred in the past, is occurring now, and will occur in the future. Trying to pinpoint that change on carbon emissions and human activities...is really a stretch.

David Paul [Via Skeptic's Corner]

Video: Cap-and-trade anti-doughnut, baker says « Green Hell Blog

This tax directly applies to us as well as every other food manufacturer. And so what it is going to do, long term, essentially says, “You haven’t cut back, so we’re going to continue to tax you and tax you more.” That’s a penalty. You know, quite frankly, the only way I can use less energy to bake a loaf of bread is to quit baking it.