American Council for Capital Formation: Panzer Attack On Cap & Trade Bill
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 03.22.08
We knew that the 'fossil' sponsors would get around to to changing the team name and roster, since the climate change, "denialist" fronts have lost operational cover. Plus, they needed a macro-economics argument that had traction in a recession driven US election.
The planned 17-state, Exxon-Mobile funded, 'economics tour' may be just the strategy to get politicians running for election to block climate action.
Energy companies and other business interests have launched a nationwide campaign to undermine climate change legislation pending in Congress, saying it could cost millions of jobs, drive gasoline prices sharply higher and suck thousands of dollars from household incomes.
On a 17-state tour that began this week with stops in North Dakota and Montana, industry-funded economists said the legislation threatens to sacrifice three to four million jobs over the next two decades, as higher energy prices dampen industrial production...Higher gas and electricity prices also would take a bite out of workers' paychecks, to the tune of up to $6,700 a year by 2030, said Margo Thorning, chief economist with the American Council for Capital Formation, whose supporters include ExxonMobil.
Upcoming stops scheduled for the industry's "Climate Change Dialogue" tour include locations in Alaska, Ohio, New Hampshire and Tennessee.
We noticed that in the PowerPoint presentation offered here, that the analysis is credited to Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), which is a major US government contractor for defense, security, etc. Nice touch.
To see what the upper boundary would be in the analysis, we downloaded the state-specific impact report for Utah, which is especially coal intensive. Unsurprisingly, by this analysis ,it looks as if all of Utah might as well give up and move to New York if Cap & Trade is enacted (see Table 1, as pictured above).
Via::Boston Globe, "Business groups campaign against climate change bill"
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First of all, listening to current energy companies is obviously a flawed strategy. Second, our use of energy is one of the most inefficient and environmentally determental things we are doing as a society and should cost much more anyway. Third, we can not continue to be so selfish by refusing to sacrifice for the future and correct our own poor practices. Fourth, our policies must start to reflect a longer term approach based on the best tech and science available that is set to be constantly updated as new issues and discoveries are brought to light.
Ah, my little pipe dream, yet we hardly even see progress from official sources on the conservation front.