According to The Hill, congressional Democrats have not yet reached an agreement on a climate change bill. It is amazing to me that the Democrats are so impressed with themselves that they think they can change the world's climate. Oh well. The plan is to cut greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide) 80 percent over the next four decades. According to the article, there are three main points of contention:
"Three main issues have divided the group: One, how many emissions allowances should industries like electric utilities receive for free, versus how many should be sold at auction? Two, how quickly should polluters be required to reduce their emissions? And three, to what extent should power plants be forced to use renewable energy sources like wind and solar power to produce electricity?"
Utility companies and other industries would be required to purchase 'emissions allowances'. Obviously, the cost of these allowances would be passed on to the consumer. This is another attack on the spending power of the average American. It won't be called a tax, but that is what it is. There are other questions. Who will the 'emissions allowances' be purchased from? Who makes money on this deal? Our increased cost of energy goes to someone, and that someone is not the company generating the energy. If we all pledge not to take showers for a week can we be paid for the energy we are not using? We might smell a little, but we'd have more money in our pockets!
One of the parts of the bill is the renewable electricity standard. This is a requirement that utility companies produce 25 percent of their power from wind, solar and other renewable sources by 2025. The environmental groups argue that this puts pressure on the utility companies to find alternate sources of fuel. That may be true, but what happens when utility companies begin to go out of business because they can't meet the requirement and remain profitable and efficient? This kind of thinking will move the country backward--not forward.
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