Chilly Reception to Sideline Cap-and-Trade Bill?

Stiff opposition to cap-and-trade legislation could push bill from 2009 calendar, while election-wary midwestern Democrats in 2010 could remove it altogether.

Examiner Editorial: U.S. cap-and-trade bill would trigger new global trade war | San Francisco Examiner

Among the least discussed flaws in the Obama-Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill that recently passed the House and is pending in the Senate is the serious damage it will inflict upon international commerce and trade. Steven Chu, President Barack Obama’s energy secretary, warned in March that “if other countries don’t impose a cost on carbon, then we will be at a disadvantage.” To compensate, the argument goes, we would impose penalties — aka “tariffs” — on products bought by Americans and produced in other countries that don’t abide by politically correct limits on carbon emissions.

This is why the bill would undermine America’s legitimate overseas interests by authorizing carbon tariffs against products produced by our new global competitors like China and India, which refuse to participate in anti-global warming schemes.

Government spending imperils economy, Alabama's U.S. Rep. Bachus says - al.com

Bachus criticized the so-called "cap and trade" legislation, which has passed the House but is still being debated in the Senate. All seven members of Alabama's Congressional delegation voted against the bill, which they said could cripple the state's steel and coal industries.

The Obama administration says the legislation will create a new generation of clean-energy jobs, but Bachus said the proposal will actually cost jobs, something the country can't afford.

"What they are doing in Washington ... they are going to bankrupt us ... that's the bottom line," he said.

Firlapalooza » Blog Archive » Climate Change Success!

Although some stakeholders suggest that this inconveniently cold weather is all part of a natural cooling trend or even that the entire climate change debate is fully media-contrived, I wouldn’t minimize the positive results of Kyoto just yet!