America can not afford it, especially now. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to implement a policy that would do so much financial harm to so many. I began doing research on the “green” agenda, and other policy goals of the left, and came up with this:

http://tinyurl.com/cap-tradePERI

Their whole “green” platform is just obfuscatory rhetoric. Cap and trade is just the means to an end for the left. In short, cap and trade is the legislative conduit through which the left will inact “social justice”, i.e. the redistribution of wealth. (see p. 21 of the linked document)

If Cap and trade is signed into law, it will be permanent, and a HUGE score for the left. The permanence comes from the TRADE part of Cap and Trade.

In the bill there are provisions laying out how the new commodity will be initially distributed, and sets guidelines for trading on an exchange. As with all commodities, futures and derivatives trade based on speculated future value.

Once the new commodity is incorporated into the financial markets, there is a dollar value associated with it. To repeal cap and trade once this happens would be like shutting down trading for wheat, gold or T-bills. Too many people would lose too much money, and who knows what that would do to the rest of the U.S. economy, or the global economy.

Get the word out to bloggers/friends in your state about the damage Cap and Trade will do in your particular state!

Factual information about the economic devastation this legislation would cause is the best weapon to stop it. Already, as you noted, the more the public learns about this hidden energy price increase–by far, the largest and most regressive tax hike in world history–the more public opinion has turned against this monstrosity. Many Blue Dog Democrats live in the very districts where the impact would be felt the most. As their constituents learn the threat it poses to them and their families, those Democrats will be forced to decide whether to carry water for the left-wing of their party or to serve who sent them to Washington. Many already have sided with the Far Left and felt the sting. If any Red State Democratic Senator or Blue Dog Democrat (or any Republican, for that matter) votes for this insanity, we must make certain their constituents know what that represents.

We as individuals shouldn’t shoulder this burden alone, and those industries that face extinction need to step up to the plate and spend some jack to get this message out. I would hope the non-profits who support liberty and capitalism also would open their wallets so that when the time comes, all MoC’s and senators know their constituents are informed and educated about what their vote means. If that happens, this will not become law.

So naturally I have been intensely interested in the “Cap and Trade” bill and the possible problems,(to numerous to list as you no doubt know) that will surely follow its implementation. I have read many of the reports generated about the possible results of the bill from both Heritage and from the DOE websites. Other sources (at least the ones released to the public)as well. One thing is very clear even from those reports that might be more supportive of this bill. Energy costs will go to levels not ever seen by the public. More then that, in my opinion, I believe that nation wide electrical energy reliability will be severely effected.

Even the most rosy engineering studies talk about the difficulty of integrating “Renewable generation” into the current and future electrical transmission and distribution systems. More then that it is very clear (to me at least) that unless the nation is willing to except everything up to and including rolling blackouts and rationing (think California 2001) this bill if passed will be catastrophic. I know that of the conclusions I have eluded to in the above paragraphs some are mine some from others including Heritage. Please forgive me for repeating what you already know. I wanted only to summarize what my thinking process was.

So now let me get to the point and of my note. What no one has addressed in any study (at least the ones I have been able to read) is the social ramifications of “Cap and Trade”. By that I mean how will the various groups like socially affluent, Middle class, and in particular the poor react to the energy cost escalation. Let me give an example of something I have been thinking about.

As I said above part of my responsibilities was the study of power flow in the western US. It was a given that the single largest user of electrical power in the West were the densest population centers, naturally. For my studies that was the west coast metropolitan areas most especially the Los Angles basin area.

I think that those who favor cap and trade have not given any thought (or very little) to what will happen in the poorest areas of LA and the bay (SF, Oakland) area, or any large metropolitan area for that matter, when energy costs go through the roof.

What happens when the Africa-Americans in south central LA or the Hispanic population in many areas of California can’t pay their electrical bills and their power is shut down or curtailed. Do the members of Congress and the members of the global warming and environmental communities really understand how the poor (not to mention the rest of us) will react to having less, little or no (or more likely unreliable) energy. Frankly, the though scares me.

Am I being an alarmist? Maybe, I don’t know. What I do know is the scenario I am suggesting is possible.