In effect, that means we'll be paying for the lifestyle and energy consumption of states that pollute much worse than we do.
This amounts to the "colonization" of energy producing states by non-energy producing states. It's imperialistic in the most basic sense - just as Great Britain was imperialistic in colonizing America and then taxing its inhabitants without representation in order to support the monarch's lavish lifestyle. In this case the monarch is President Obama as he props up the lifestyle of his supporters in the more heavily populated blue states on the backs of less populated but more conservative leaning red states.
As if this weren't enough, many on the left side of the political isle stand to make a massive profit off of the lie of manmade global warming. Al Gore's carbon trade hedge fund investments alone stand to net him somewhere around $1 billion. Not bad for the prophet of an inconvenient truth who lives in a mansion that uses 21 times the energy of the average American.
Cashing in on cap-and-trade
Many other lobbyists and elected officials in Washington stand to score a major windfall off of this policy as well. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is betting a large portion of her already massive fortune on the passage of this bill. The list of Washington insiders who are heavily invested in companies that stand to make big cash from government subsidies under the cap-and-trade scheme is endless and continues to grow.
But don't take my word for it as a conservative. You may want to check with one of the most respected environmental organizations, "Friends of the Earth." A new report it has released warns against the massive problems with a cap-and-trade structure.
The report cites the fact that the European Union is currently facing a carbon market implosion, similar to the housing market bubble. In the end, companies will turn to buying and selling carbon positions, artificially driving up their value in order to continue to pollute. Ultimately, the carbon trading industry will make many of the same players very wealthy while unduly burdening the average folks, without actually helping the environment.
I care about our environment. The scriptures tell us to be good stewards of creation. But like many poor government decisions in the past, the cap-and-trade proposal is moving too fast with too little proven information and too many unanswered questions.
Contrary to what the president says, we've actually done quite well at cleaning up our environment without much government intervention over the past several decades. Are you prepared to pay an additional $150 a month to support someone else's lifestyle and energy consumption for an unproven theory?
Leland Conway is the executive editor and co-founder of www.conservativeedge.com and the host of the Pulse of Lexington on News Radio 630 WLAP.
