[George_1950]

From Obama: "A study from the George C. Marshall Institute tries to quantify the costs of a cap-and-trade plan to reduce carbon emissions. They're not small, to say the least: And although this study uses 2008 as a baseline, the Obama plan would hit in 2012 and could come in combo with a hike in investment and incomes taxes for wealthier Americans and the creation of a special healthcare tax: The authors find that the constraints posed by the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade approach is equivalent to a constant (in percentage terms) consumption decrease of about 1% each year, continuing to 2050. Put another way, the cap-and-trade approach is the equivalent of a permanent tax increase for the average American household, which was estimated to be $1,100 in 2008, would rise to $1,437 by 2015, to $1,979 in 2030, and $2,979 in 2050.

"Reviewing a host of recent studies, Buckley and Mityakov show that estimates of job losses attributable to cap-and-trade range in the hundreds of thousands. The price for energy paid by the American consumer also will rise. The studies reviewed showed electricity prices jumping 5-15% by 2015, natural gas prices up 12-50% by 2015, and gasoline prices up 9-145% by 2015. As an illustration, gasoline would suffer a 16 cent price increase per gallon at the low end of the estimates to a $2.58 penalty at the high end (using the January 2009 reported retail price of $1.78 per gallon)."
What Obama's Cap-And-Trade Plan Will Cost You - Capital Commerce (usnews.com)

[George_1950]

Check this: Editorial: Cap-and-trade plan will sink Michigan "President Barack Obama's proposed cap-and-trade system on greenhouse gas emissions is a giant economic dagger aimed at the nation's heartland -- particularly Michigan. It is a multibillion-dollar tax hike on everything that Michigan does, including making things, driving cars and burning coal... The proposed tax would take effect in 2012 and has the very real potential to throw the nation back into recession, if indeed the expected recovery has arrived by then. It's impossible to raise costs for such basics as manufacturing and energy production by more than half a trillion dollars over a decade and not have the effects felt across the economy."
Editorial: Cap-and-trade plan will sink Michigan | detnews.com | The Detroit News

[George_1950]

"Conrad urged White House budget director Peter Orszag not to “draw lines in the sand” with lawmakers, most notably on Obama's plan for a cap-and-trade system to curb carbon emissions."
TheHill.com

[George_1950]

"Eight Senate Democrats are opposing speedy action on President Barack Obama's bill to combat global warming, complicating prospects for the legislation and creating problems for their party's leaders...
"The cap and trade proposal is highly controversial, especially in heavily industrialized states and regions where people get their electricity from coal-fired power plants. Obama's promise to use most of the revenue to award $400 tax credits to most workers hasn't quelled the controversy since the increases in utility bills could easily exceed the amount of the tax cut." 8 Dems oppose quick debate on global warming bill - Nation - Macon

[tomder55]

Yes you have to liken it to one of Uncle Joe's 5 year plans . I think even the Dems know that a cap and trade proposal is DOA . They wouldn't dare attempt to pass one.

More and more scientists are stepping forward ,free of the yoke of consensus group think to challenge the Goracles claims of apocalyptic environmental disaster unless the Gore stimulus package ( creating another market of imaginary numbers for speculators to trade ) is shoved down our throats. Also polling suggests the American people are getting wise to his scam.

The President in turn sees cap and trade as a new tax revenue source for the nanny state ;sold to us under the guise of saving the planet.

The most cynical thing is that by design ,it does nothing to reduce C02. All it does is create an added business expense to companies that produce ;and profits for dummy companies who's only reason for existence is to hold and accumulate carbon credits to trade .

[George_1950]

An $1,100 annual 'tax' per household, to begin with? And a huge reduction in American jobs, to boot?
"The authors find that the constraints posed by the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade approach is equivalent to a constant (in percentage terms) consumption decrease of about 1% each year, continuing to 2050. Put another way, the cap-and-trade approach is the equivalent of a permanent tax increase for the average American household, which was estimated to be $1,100 in 2008, would rise to $1,437 by 2015, to $1,979 in 2030, and $2,979 in 2050.

Reviewing a host of recent studies, Buckley and Mityakov show that estimates of job losses attributable to cap-and-trade range in the hundreds of thousands. The price for energy paid by the American consumer also will rise. The studies reviewed showed electricity prices jumping 5-15% by 2015, natural gas prices up 12-50% by 2015, and gasoline prices up 9-145% by 2015. As an illustration, gasoline would suffer a 16 cent price increase per gallon at the low end of the estimates to a $2.58 penalty at the high end (using the January 2009 reported retail price of $1.78 per gallon)."
What Obama's Cap-And-Trade Plan Will Cost You - Capital Commerce (usnews.com)

[tomder55]

I take one thing back . If he can apply enough arm twisting on Congress they may indeed pass some form of cap and trade . Obama's budget numbers depend heavily on revenues from a proposed cap-and-trade program. So he has made his budget on imaginary revenue projections of a proposal that has not even had a serious debate in Congress yet.
The budget includes $78.7 billion in projected revenues from the cap-and-trade system in its first year, 2012, and $525.7 billion total by 2019. These numbers are based on the assumption that credits for a ton of carbon dioxide will sell for $13.70 in 2012 and $16.50 by 2020. Talk about voodoo economics !

It's a perfect system for a scam artist. How do you measure CO2 reductions ? New Zealand's Bryan Leyland put it best:

“So, to my knowledge, carbon trading is the only commodity trading where it is impossible to establish with reasonable accuracy how much is being bought and sold, where the commodity that is traded is invisible and can perform no useful purpose for the purchaser, and where both parties benefit if the quantities traded have been exaggerated. … It is, therefore, an open invitation to fraud and that is exactly what is happening all over the world.”

Scoop: Carbon Trading Open Invitation To Fraud

[George_1950]

"If Furman is right that the real tax hike would be two or three times the official budget estimate—and it's likely still a lowball—that would mean the actual tax hike would run well into the trillions, roughly between $1.3 trillion and $1.9 trillion between fiscal years 2012 and 2019 by Furman's own estimate.

"The White House claims that this massive gusher of new tax revenue would be dedicated to tax relief, but judging by the budget that's just a PR gimmick. More than 42 percent of the “tax cuts” in the Obama budget—according to its own official estimates—go to people who don't pay taxes. Call it a handout; call it a welfare check; call it social spending; don't call it a tax cut, though, because it means the burden of the federal government on people who actually work, save, invest, and build wealth will be higher than ever before."
White House Admits Cap-And-Trade Tax Costs Triple Their Official Estimate « FOX Forum « FOXNews.com

[speechlesstx]

EPA: Global Warming Threatens Public Health, Welfare

The Environmental Protection Agency sent a proposal to the White House on Friday finding that global warming is endangering the public's health and welfare, according to several sources, a move that could have far-reaching implications for the nation's economy and environment...

"This is historic news," said Frank O'Donnell, who heads the public watchdog group Clean Air Watch. "It will set the stage for the first-ever national limits on global warming pollution. And it is likely to help light a fire under Congress to get moving."

But business groups decried the move as an economic disaster.

"By moving forward with the endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, EPA is putting in motion a set of decisions that may have far-reaching unintended consequences," said Bill Kovacs, vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Specifically, once the finding is made, no matter how limited, some environmental groups will sue to make sure it is applied to all aspects of the Clean Air Act.

"This will mean that all infrastructure projects, including those under the president's stimulus initiative, will be subject to environmental review for greenhouse gases. Since not one of the projects has been subjected to that review, it is possible that the projects under the stimulus initiative will cease. This will be devastating to the economy."

How many self-defeating plans does this administration have now?