May 16, 2009 09:10 am
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Do the right thing
Advertisements paid for by the energy industry warn of hefty price increases, if any type of cap-and-trade proposal on carbon pollution is adopted by Congress.
Right-wing radio and television hosts outline the vast left-wing conspiracy behind the “hoax” of global warming, which, they say, is a plot to destroy our economy and compel the U.S. to adopt socialist policies.
Such is the climate surrounding climate change and what to do about it, an issue now being debated in Washington.
The potential impact any climate-change legislation will have is evident by the fact that over the past five years, the number of climate-change lobbyists on Capitol Hill has increased by 300 percent. There were almost 2,500 such lobbyists last year, before President Obama was elected.
Understandably, the oil, gas, and coal industries have kicked in millions to either block climate-change legislation or substantially alter it to mitigate the damage to their bottom line. Using the current economic crisis as a backdrop, the energy companies claim that placing any kind of price on carbon emissions will be disastrous for average Americans, who will inevitably see a rise in energy prices. But in some forms of cap and trade, the regressive nature of any price increases could be offset by redistributing to low-income earners some of the revenues from “emission permits” sold by the government.
Regardless, if big energy is successful and we timidly confront the carbon problem, a larger and more devastating impact will likely follow. While there is some uncertainty in determining the extent and effects of climate change, most scientists believe the results of continued global warming would include a rise in sea levels, which will affect precipitation patterns and expand desert areas, and a continuation of the diminution of glaciers like those found in Glacier National Park in Montana. Some of the larger glaciers are a third of their 1850 size, while many have disappeared altogether.
Here in the heartland, the effects of doing little or nothing about greenhouse gas emissions will likely have adverse affects on weather-dependent agricultural yields and cause even more extreme weather events than we already experience, events that have their own economic impact.
So, while a move to limit our carbon emissions will no doubt cause energy prices to rise, the long-term benefits are incalculable. The interests of energy giants and the paranoia of conspiracists on the radio and television should not deter us from doing the right thing for our planet and posterity.
R. Duane Graham lives in Joplin. His blog is “Erstwhile Conservative.”
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