...Now everyone, including Greenpeace, is expressing opposition to the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill. Ironically, many of the same companies hired lobbyists to help shape the bill, but receiving handouts in the short-term does not mask the significant amount of economic pain these firms will face in subsequent years. And what did all this all this money spent on lobbying actually buy these firms? In all likelihood, they’re buying into a country with far less economic potential, which will force these companies to shed jobs and be less productive than they could otherwise have been.
The only ones who aren’t represented are the consumers, who will feel the most pain from the bill, seeing their electricity prices rise 90 percent by 2035.
These companies will come to the realization that jobs are going to disappear. Instead of producing domestically, companies will seize onto these opportunities by sending jobs overseas to places without cap-and-trade type regulations. Given that energy production there will continue likely continue at a higher rate to displace the decline in U.S. production, carbon emissions may end up increasing overall, even if emissions drop in the U.S. So all considered, cap-and-trade gives us: lost jobs today, lost jobs tomorrow, and a change in the temperature too small to notice.
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