American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454)

[Whitney]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/24 ... -your-Reps!

Climate change legislation is on the move in Congress. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), also known as the Waxman-Markey bill, will most likely be brought up for a vote in the House on Friday. This according to a conference call I was on last night with VP Al Gore (as I'm sure many of you were).

This is an extremely important bill, as for the first time the U.S. will attempt to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we produce each year. The bill implements a cap-and-trade policy intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 83% by 2050. It mandates a federal renewable energy standard, calling for a 20 percent renewable energy and energy efficiency standard by 2020. It also requires utilities to obtain 15 percent of their power from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and also demonstrate annual electricity savings of 5 percent through energy efficiency measures.

While the bill has its detractors, Al Gore, the Sierra Club and numerous other environmental organizations support the bill as they recognize it as the first step in the winner-take-all fight against global warming. However the vote is supposed to be very close, and we need to make sure that it passes.

(mommasquid you tweeted to vote no on this....why?)

[MommaSquid]

The bill will hurt more than it helps.  Plus, as a Libertarian, I want a smaller federal government.

The American Legislative Council (ALEC), on the other hand, was equally quick to condemn the House Energy and Commerce Committee for furthering legislation that will "raise energy prices on American consumers, will cause job losses and will put the United States at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy. H.R. 2454 imposes for the first time in the U.S. a cap and trade system for carbon dioxide that promises to vastly expand power in Washington and to plague America's economy with fraud, waste and efficiency."

ALEC (http://www.alec.org ), which is a nonpartisan, individual membership organization of state legislators, also criticized H.R. 2454 for putting an unfair mandate on states, which have already been developing their own policies on renewable energy. "And let us remember that reducing CO2 emissions is no end in itself," said Alan Smith, ALEC's executive director. "At the end of this exercise in self-impoverishment, we may find we have produced no environmental benefit whatsoever.."

Link

[dr.zalost]

That's okay MommaSquid. It looks like the economic slowdown is curbing CO2 output all on it's own.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17387-financial-crisis-may-have-been-good-for-the-climate.html

[Sheeplauncher]

I am in 100% agreement with mommasquid. As a libertarian cap and trade is simply not a good practice to follow

[Jolly Sapper]

I disagree, the prices of energy will rise regardless of whether or not efforts to curb green house gas emissions are federally mandated or not.  

The way I see it, I'd rather the federal government get involved (as the government represents the people and is made up of the people) to begin large scale efforts to reduce our negative effects on the environment than to wait for the private sector to 1) realize there is a problem that cannot be ignored, 2) begin efforts to solve the problem (or mitigate negative effects), and 3) wait for all of the various individuals of the private sector to agree on what to do.

[MommaSquid]

Well, the bill passed so we shall soon see if this is a catastrophe or not.  

[Whitney]

Well, the bill passed so we shall soon see if this is a catastrophe or not.  

Honestly, quite a few of the things that bill required are or will soon be enforced by local city codes indirectly. LEED (that exam I just passed) is being adopted into building codes in cities all over the country and one of the points you can get for it is green energy.  Being that opting to use green energy is an easy point (doesn't require any design work), that's like indirectly requiring it.

[thiolsulfate]

Well, the bill passed so we shall soon see if this is a catastrophe or not.  

If anything, my being healthy takes strain off the system. If more people would take care of their bodies just think of the benefits!