An Energy Future for Us and the Planet

America is the economic engine that drives the global economy, and it's about time we ran that engine on clean and renewable energy. We have within our power the ability to transform America into nation that wisely and responsibly consumes and produces energy, and provides leadership that enables the world to follow our example.

Most people know the score today: America is addicted to oil, much of which is foreign, and the greenhouse gas emissions we spew into the atmosphere (seven billion tons annually) are warming the planet. We are close to the tipping point where the damage will be cataclysmic and irreversible.

The President has made American energy transformation a top priority, but it will require strong legislation to make it a reality. In the House of Representatives, several committees share jurisdiction over energy, including the Ways and Means Committee where I serve. Recently, I proposed legislation that would reduce carbon emissions 80 percent by the middle of the century and do so without the potential risk from a financial derivatives market usually associated with a cap and trade system. Generally, the object of a "cap and trade" scheme is to turn the right to emit carbon dioxide into a commodity, and then limit (or "cap") these rights, which can be traded like any other commodity.

We need only look at the experience in the European Union's cap and trade system that increased prices for consumers and increased profits for traders and, ironically, polluters. In any economy, price signals drive change in behavior, but in the EU, the price of pollution permits are extremely volatile, creating uncertainty for policy makers, consumers, and investors in renewable technology. With this in mind, my legislation establishes a system of fees and permits set by the Treasury Secretary that reduces pollution over time according to a schedule written into the legislation itself.

As Congress debates various energy proposals let's hope we remember the lessons of history -- in the EU as well as our own market collapses in housing and the financial sector; if not, we risk repeating the mistakes of history and these have been painful and costly indeed.

As Americans, we're proud when we hear people around the world say that America is a beacon of light in the world. I want that light to be powered by renewable energy in the years ahead. This vision is within reach and I hope it does not slip from our grasp.

Comments

[TJCole]

Hemp Congressman...

Grow Here Grow Now...!

http://hemp4fuel.com/

Cellulose Ethanol and bio diesel, and it renews every 4 months, eats CO2 and no need to plant it in rows so we can pack every acre with it...

[American50]

reopen tobacco plantations Put Americans back to work

[research]

that's the conservative robber barons plan.

[TomBrentwood]

It also is time we require every new building to have solar. This would reduce peak energy demand from the grid (noon time) when brownouts happen every summer, clean the air reducing health costs,
lower our demand for coal and imported oil. This would also reduce our demand for nuclear as the last thing we need is more nuclear waste. It would also provide clean energy to the grid which could be sold back to the power companies. Lets get moving and create clean energy jobs.

[XYZ]

Jim, I agree with you that we need a cleaner fuel source. However untill the alternative is cheaper than what is being used there will be no change.

There are only three ways to make the alternative cheaper than the mainstream.

1) Make the alternative technoligy cheaper (highly unlikely energy drilled from the ground is easy, cheap, and still readily available)

2) Artificialy raise the price of the mainstream to the point of the alternative technoligy is cheaper.

3) Subsidise the alternative to make it cheaper for the end user to adopt the technoligy.

These are simple rules and untill you acknowlege them and use them there will be no change.

There isn't a lack of good ideas, or supression but it's just like the law of gravity nobody is going to buy an expensive alternative just because it makes them feel warm and fuzzy, or produces less of an invisible gas that warms the earth slowly.

[alvdh1]

To XYZ,

Just out of curiosity, what does it currently cost to install a 4 kilowatt solar pv systems? I will help you. $38,000. Now, install energy efficient LED lighting, insulation, energy star appliances and geothermal heating and cooling. You will have cut your energy consumption by more than 50 % reducing the cost of your $38,000 solar system down to $19,000 or less and now apply the 30% investment tax credit. Every dollar you put into greening your home, you will get $1 to $2 in increased value out of your home when you sell it. When Rep. McDermott and the rest of the congress realize that the only way to drive alternative energy is to allow residential and business producers of solar and wind to sell their excess power at full retail rates, will they truly become affordable.

[research]

1. That ground and the fossil industry is subsidized with Billions of taxpayer dollars. You do know that right?

2. Asking fossil and nukes to pay their pollution costs is not Artificial, it is just good accounting.

3. see 1. we have subsidize fossil and nukes, when they didn't need it. huge compared to solar.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/133227.html

Solar is already the cheapest in dollars per KWH. 3 cents per KWH for the best.

See my profile for proof.

[shaman]

Please provide a link to your proposed legislation. It is difficult to draw any conclusions (although your rap agains cap and trade does ring the bell) about what your plan would look like.

Thanks

[JnrNorman]

LEGALIZE HEMP!
8X more btu's than corn
8X more hempdiesel than soy or canola
6X more fiber than cotton
Best chicken and turkey feed in the world they grow twice as fast.