Let me begin with the fact that I believe as many of you that we
could have far less gook in our air and water. We can all agree that we
should be far more conscious of energy conservation, that is just good
common sense. Common sense that from the time I was a little girl my
Dad taught me. If we kids left lights on, doors open etc. we would be
asked if we "thought that he owned Nevada Power." Since the third grade
I became fascinated with weather patterns and the history of our earth
and its various billions of years formation. The fact is that our earth
has been forming for billions of years and has gone through many
"climate changes," and will continue to, including periods of both
warming and cooling. If we will allow the "free enterprise system" to
work along with all of us utilizing our common sense we can become more
energy independent and free of terrorist nations and U.S. unfriendly
dictatorships.
The facts are "Cap and Trade" will cost the U.S. more jobs than it
will create. A study by the Heritage Foundation estimates a (net) loss
of 1,145,000 jobs. Unemployment in Spain (once touted as an example for
"green jobs") is 18%. Gabriel Calzada, economics professor at Madrid's
King Juan Carlos University, estimates that for each "green" job Spain
has created it prevents 2.2 other jobs from being created. No doubt
this will happen to us, as jobs will continue to be "outsourced" to
nations like China and India who are not buying the "global warming"
propaganda.
Fact, there is no conclusive proof that we are warming whether man
made or nature made. Recently the Array for Real-time Geostrophic
Oceanography, (ARGO) indicates that our ocean temperatures aren't
actually warming. They are cooling! As a matter of fact there has
actually been no real and significant warming since 1998! Proponents of
"Cap and Trade" legislation will tout that NASA says the opposite. In
short NASA has an agenda.
Fact, Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (CFL's) is dangerous. They
contain mercury and if you break one the clean up process is ridiculous
and MUST be done correctly, (read the directions!) These will be
MANDATED by our federal government (Washington D.C.) in 2011. In other
words this blatant form of communism will dictate that we will no
longer be able to purchase or have our traditional "Edison" style light
bulbs. I could go on about other myths with these as well. Let the
"free market" decide what we buy.
Then there is something called "The Smart Grid." Bottom line is that
currently there are (71) of these "pilot" experiments. In essence it
will be a way to shut off your energy consumption if deemed you are
using too much! Again sounds like "Marxism" to me! It is none of
Washington D.C.'s business what we consume or do in our own homes!
Another frightening aspect to this 1,400 plus page bill is control
in how we are able to sell our own homes! Yes, a wonderful federal
government agent will inspect our homes to make sure we are "energy
compliant" before we can put our home on the market. If not you will be
referred to "government approved" contractors to fix the problem. Also
you could face a (tax) if not compliant. There is so much more in this
bill. In a nutshell this bill is completely UNCONSTITUTIONAL on many
levels and is about Washington having more control over us. And CONGRESSMAN JIM COOPER VOTED FOR THIS!!
The facts are that our cost of living will go up significantly. Our
heating and cooling bills will be close to double. Our food (our
farmers will get hit hard,) our gasoline, everything will cost us more!
The total estimated cost to "We the People" will be $393 billion
annually. All of this to cool us five-one-hundredths of one degree!
On a side note; recently the high court in Britain ruled that a
"disclaimer" be given before showing the Al Gore movie An Inconvenient
Truth. Why? They found that (9) of the points in this movie are
completely false!
Now let's "follow the money." Who stands to gain? 1.) Big Business- payoffs for those friendly to members of Congress. 2.) General Electric (GE) who has spent $20 million lobbying members of Washington to pass "Cap and Trade." Congressman Jim Cooper is one of them! GE has enormous amounts of money to gain with the passage of this bill. 3.) Goldman Sachs, yes the same Goldman Sachs our tax dollars "bailed out." 4.) Unions, it will be (mandated) that whether a contactor is union or not "union wages" MUST be paid. 5.) Academia, billions will go to colleges and universities to push this agenda. They are all ready being "indoctrinated" enough! 6.) ACORN, currently under numerous investigations for criminal activities including voter fraud. This is a part of "redistribution of wealth," as, not only will you be paying higher electric bills; you will be paying for someone else that claims to be poor. 7.) Bureaucrats,
this will create a cornucopia of new Washington agencies and
sub-agencies. Just what we need, an even more bloated Washington! Again
I could go on. In a nutshell what this is all really about is typical
Washington greed, power and more control over "We the People!"
Now for our AMERICAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS. Again we
will reiterate that we all need to be better stewards of our country.
It is just good common sense, both environmentally and economically,
but there are good ways to go about this, if Washington will just get
out of the way. However, we MUST get a move on. Before we continue, I
would highly suggest that you go to History.com and see if you are able
to purchase (Mega Disasters- "Oil Apocalypse"-2007,) as it does a
fantastic job of explaining that there is no one quick fix solution,
each solution brings it's own set of problems, so let's just do what I
refer to as "The All of the Above Approach."
- Drill for our own oil and natural gas. We are
actually the "Saudi Arabia" of Natural Gas, (American Gas.) We have
plenty of oil in our own Outer Continental Shelf (OCS.) And there is no
better place to start than Alaska, both their OCS and the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR.) Us, ours, and AMERICAN! American energy and American jobs.
So, what is standing in the way? False claims by "radical
environmentalists." Please take the time get more facts from the
Governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell. Alaskans are wonderful stewards of
their environment and a little known fact is that wildlife not only
thrives in drilling areas they actually increase in number. My feeling
is that many self proclaimed environmentalists would love to see us go
back to the "stone-age." There are also oil reserves off of many of our
OCS's. Our oil companies are too often made out to be "villains" when
the truth is that they add good paying jobs and billions in tax dollars
to our country. For instance EXXON's 2008 tax bill was $116.2 Billion.
Whether we like it or not we need oil and it will afford us the time we
need while other technologies are developed.
- Develop (cost effective) Renewable Energy resources i.e.: Solar, Wind, Hydrogen, Bio fuels, Geothermal and Nuclear Energy.
When it comes to Bio-Diesel there is nothing like good ol' "Yankee
Ingenuity! Everyday people are developing there own bio-diesel fuels.
Currently France garners 78% of their electricity needs from "Nuclear
Power." We are capable of doing this safely, and we will always need
(affordable) electricity in some form or fashion, especially for
(electric-powered cars.) Many believe that Hydrogen should be far more
focused on as; it is a natural resource and no environmental impact.
However, this will still require to date, electricity and is currently
very expensive to produce a hydrogen powered vehicle. In the book "Real
Change" Newt Gingrich has offered up an idea of a $1 billion tax free
prize for the first hydrogen car that can be mass produced at a
reasonable price. Now that's incentive! As for solar and wind, (radical
environmentalists are already complaining about wind turbines) they are
currently out of reach in regard to affordability for the everyday
American. That being said, if we will let the "Free Enterprise" system
work, it will happen through savvy businessmen like T. Boone Pickens.
- Clean Burning Coal. There have been great strides
made via American technology to have little or minimal effect on our
environment. Currently it is pricey; however, new technology is often
expensive (at first.) Here again we are the Saudi Arabia of coal. On a
sad note; currently "Radical" environmentalists are now pushing for the
closure of a coal fired power plant near Page, Arizona. This would
basically be a part of bankrupting the great Hopi Native Americans
there, which rely heavily on the plant and coal mines for jobs. The
Hopi are a great and very talented people's (we have several lovely
pieces we've collected.) So, leave our "Native Americans" alone!!
- Oil Shale/Oil Mud. Here again great strides are
being made in this area. Although we have a long way to go, we are
Americans with great technological minds. We can do this, and take care
of the surrounding environment.
- Continued Education in Energy Conservation. While
so many conservation tips may seem like "common sense" to many of us,
many people either don't know and understand or don't want to. Thus,
continuing to educate Americans through various forms of media and
through energy companies and sharing our own tips with each other will
help. Conservation is still one of our best weapons.
To sum up, we really don't need another massive Washington
D.C. bill that actually does not address this issue and is meant to
take more control over our lives, along with destroying any hopes of a
long term thriving economy. We are a great nation of hard working,
creative, and inventive people. We are at a point, however, where we
must work on American 21st. Century Solutions thus also making us less
dependent on those that would like to see our American way of life
destroyed.
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