Jun 30, 2009

Cap and Trade Congress

Joseph Farah
By Joseph Farah

I don't think you can cap and trade the production of water vapor, which is what the House of Representatives voted to do last week.

I don't think it would be advisable to do so even if it were feasible.

But I do know the American people have the ability and the justification to cap and trade Congress next year.

And that ought to be our slogan.

What the House did last week is potentially the most dangerous, destructive and unconstitutional attack on the American economy in history.

In case you missed it, members narrowly voted to institute caps on the production of so-called "greenhouse gases" that will result in huge new government taxes that will inevitably be passed on to consumers in massive new energy bills. Industry will also be permitted to trade "carbon credits" when they produce less of these so-called "greenhouse gases" than the government permits.

So what's wrong with that?

Don't we want to stop pollution?

Don't we want to prevent global warming?

First of all, this is not about pollution – unless you believe you are creating air pollution when you boil a kettle of tea or brew a pot of coffee.

The overwhelming amount of so-called "greenhouse gas," as defined by this legislation, is water vapor – about 75 percent, in fact.

Do you think water vapor is a pollutant? Do you think it's harmful? Do you think the amount of water vapor made by man's industry is even remotely significant given the amount of natural evaporation taking place around the world every day, every hour and every minute?

The other major gas reined in by cap and trade is carbon dioxide – also not a pollutant but a naturally occurring gas vital to life on the planet.

Every time you exhale, you release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than you breathed in. Plants love carbon dioxide. They breath it and produce oxygen. More CO2, more plants. More plants, more oxygen.

And there is no evidence that either of these innocuous, naturally occurring, beneficial gases are causing climate change. None, zip, zilch, nada.

Nevertheless, Congress is about to unleash the most severe punishment on the U.S. economy yet. Cap and trade is potentially a more lethal blow to free enterprise, the Constitution and simple reason and common sense than even Barack Obama's bailouts and deficit spending.

It quite literally could destroy the U.S. economy. Yet, the plan is all based on pseudo-science and hysteria, not sound science. Man-made carbon dioxide and water vapor represent an infinitesimally small amount of the carbon dioxide and water vapor in our atmosphere. There is no evidence increases in the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere even lead to warming. There is also no evidence that small fluctuations in global temperatures actually lead to devastating results. In fact, they are often beneficial – and they are cyclical. The planet has been much colder in man's history. And it has been much warmer in history. These trends occurred before man was involved in major industry.

Now, even if it were legal for the federal government to limit my production of water vapor and carbon dioxide, and even if it made sense and were the right thing to do, it will still not accomplish anything but the destruction of the U.S. economy.

The very same folks promoting this insanity are always talking about how we live in a "global village" and "global economy." Yet this legislation affects only production in America. It does nothing to rein in the other big producers – China and India. Both India and China are increasingly putting out more carbon dioxide than we could ever stop putting out. China has been adding a new 500 megawatt coal or gas-burning plant about every week or two, with hundreds more planned. So, even if the U.S. places on its own businesses strict limits on the production of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases," India and China will more than make up the difference by adding new carbon dioxide-emitting generating plants.

That means the worldwide emissions of CO2 are gong to continue to rise even if we decide to kill the American economy and go back to the horse-and-buggy days. And that's exactly what the House voted to do last week – take us back to the horse-and-buggy days.

We can't possibly do anything to reduce world levels of CO2 unless India and China stop developing cold in their tracks. They would indeed need to start shutting down some of those electrical generating plants and remain part of the "Third World." That is not going to happen.

"Cap and trade" is not a solution to the dubious theory of "climate change." It is a recipe for taking America down as a world power, as a free nation and as the most prosperous country on the planet.

It's really that bad, folks. It's really that bad.

And that's why we need "cap and trade" – but not on naturally occurring, life-sustaining gases. We need to cap and trade Congress in 2010.

Related News

Obama: Energy prices will ‘skyrocket’ - Ada Evening News
U.S. conservative Christians sound “cap and trade” alarms - Reuters Blogs
The Cap and Trade debacle must die in the Senate; thanks to House Republicans - Examiner.com