Cap & Trade? OH NOES!

Well, looks like there's another huge debate in the world of politics and it goes by the name of cap and trade.

On June 26, the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate bill by a margin of 219-212. The bill, introduced by Henry Waxman (D- Calif) and Edward Markey (D- Mass), is a plan outlining a massive switch to cleaner sources of energy within the next 40 years.

OH NOES!!

Just in case you've been caught up in all the coverage of Michael Jackson's death (and aren't one of those lunatics that believe it's all a conspiracy), here's a quick run-down of the Waxman-Markey plan.

For starters, the concept of cap and trade, simply said, puts a 'cap' on how much pollution a company can produce. This cap is dynamic; by 2050 it will be extremely low. Because of this, companies will be forced to continually find more efficient and cleaner ways to produce energy, making way for innovation and new ideas. The 'trade' part of it is the allowance that companies get when they cannot reduce their emmissions quickly enough. They can just simply buy more room under the 'cap' from companies that have it.

Doesn't seem too bad, right?

Well, the main argument from opponents is that it will drive energy prices for the average consumer through the roof. Now, how much, we don't know, but some Conservate know-it-all pundits and propagandists estimate they would go up by as much as 45%.

If you work in the energy industry, you just might lose your job.

But don't worry, it's all Obama's fault. We shouldn't be blaming Shell, Exxon, Entergy, or any of the other energy giants for continuing to pollute local communities and causing little boys' and girls' cancer rates to skyrocket all in the name of a dollar. After all, those guys provide us with clean, cheap, and efficient gas and electricity right? Don't worry about them deciding to outsource and pollute some foreign country in order to escape new regulations. Those aren't the bad guys...

We might as well just be paying them to kill us.

So what if the Cap and Trade Bill is going to raise (or 'drive,' it's all a matter of using more shocking words when it comes to the Right) energy prices. This bill needed to be introduced, it needed to be passed in the House, and it should be handily passed in the Senate. How is this country, as George W. Bush so eloquently stated, going to get over it's 'addiction to oil'? How (rather, when) are we going to stop allowing these energy companies excessively pollute our air with one hand and take our money in equal excess with the other?

But they just don't see it that way. It's all just another regulation (the second coming of the Third Reich) to the Repubs and Conservatives. They claim to care so much about how the bill is going to affect the common man, when all it is is about lining more big-wig pockets.

Now, while I don't like the idea of job losses and higher energy prices, I just feel it's something that's necessary. Things have to get worse in order to get better. Hurricane Katrina taught me that; it's just something that's in me.

The country is about to change, for better. We could become the benchmark for other countries in the development of new technology. I know that I'll handily pay my cap and trade tax on my bill as long as I know it's working towards a better tomorrow.

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