Mar 02, 2008 - 04:06:13 CST
When a conference takes place in Fargo this month, a participant will be there in spirit, and that's all.The conference is a dialogue on climate change, and the absent participant drawing the attention of every person at the event is a pending piece of federal legislation.
Officially Senate bill 2191, its working title is "America's Climate Security Act of 2007." But people concerned about the expense of implementing greenhouse gas reduction refer to it as Lieberman-Warner. It's making its way slowly through Congress after its introduction by Independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican.
Its heart is a plan to cut about 70 percent of the 2005 level of carbon dioxide and other climate-changing emissions by 2050. If it ever becomes law, two new federal boards would monitor emissions and enforce limits that would get tougher every year after 2012.
There would be measured licenses to pollute - free at first, then costlier with each passing year - that in a few years would start to be auctioned and could be traded off if, say, a coal-burning power plant were sufficiently efficient and clean that it came in well under its own cap.
There are many other provisions in the 300-page bill, but predictably it will present a major cost to the federal treasury because of the incentives presented as "transition assistance." Low- and medium-income families (we all are polluters) would share in $350 billion in assistance through 2030 to clean up their act. Industry would be eligible for modernization assistance to the tune of $500 billion through 2030 for their investment in zero-carbon producing technology or low-carbon producing equipment.
But (and it's a big one) Lieberman-Warner could increase consumers' electric bills drastically. How much depends on who you're listening to or whose words you're reading, perhaps up to 70 percent.
The conference in Fargo on March 18 is the brainchild of the Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Chamber. The national group is sponsoring like events in three other states. It's being called "The Conversation You Can't Afford to Miss." It truly will be that: dialogue. An expert in the cost of carbon containment will participate. Politicians are welcome, but not as speakers. It's a deliberate attempt to take the debate out of the national capital.
It's being held in Fargo to draw participation from Minnesotans, whose energy future is directly tied to North Dakota. The Fargo-Moorhead Chamber signed on as a sponsor.
Expect to hear grim pronouncements on the cost to everyone, the energy industry in particular, if S. 2191 ever becomes law. It faces a veto if President Bush is still in office.
One thing is as certain as death and taxes: There will be legislation of some sort on greenhouse gases. But can we afford it?Can we afford not to have it?
MsRepublicanWit wrote on Mar 5, 2008 3:08 PM:
It is a -FACT- that while the weather may be warmer here, the other side of the world is experiencing record lows!
It is also a fact, that the earth turns on it's axis.
Didn't anybody pay attention in sixth grade science?
Therefore, turning slowly on it's axis, one side of the earth is closer to the sun while the other is colder! Sound familiar?
Therefore, the THEORY of Global Warming is a weak attempt by liberal leaders to frighten people into following their ways.
I supported that by facts...
But can you support Global Warming by facts?
The -FACT- is that you cannot. "
expositor wrote on Mar 2, 2008 10:55 PM:
Edward wrote on Mar 2, 2008 8:34 PM:
halatbis wrote on Mar 2, 2008 2:10 PM:
cause wrote on Mar 2, 2008 9:10 AM:
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