Political Platform

Cap and Trade

The Cap and Trade federal program is intended to limit harmful emissions into the atmosphere. Industrial plants of various purposes are emitters of pollution but perhaps the most significant is from coal-fired power plants. Any company emitting harmful emissions must receive an authorization on the amount of polluting substance they may emit into the atmosphere. The government establishes aggressive limits on the amount of pollutants – this is the “Cap” (maximum limit). One company may trade allowances with another company, which includes the selling and buying of allowances. WOW! Enough. In my opinion, this is a governmental, bureaucratic program which is very susceptible to abuse. It sounds complex and it is complex. More disturbing is the end result compared to the program objectives. The United States does more than other countries to reduce harmful emissions and spends a lot of corporate money in the process – but it should be noted that the United States is the ranked second in CO2 emissions, with China being the largest. Collectively; China, Europe, India, and Russia and (and there are others) put far more pollutants into the atmosphere than the U.S. – and they have little controls. Collectively, they produce 50% of the world’s CO2 emissions compared to the United States 17%. As a result, our emission are less on a global basis, yet our government wants more and higher standards that our companies must meet. The result, and this is simplistic, our U.S. companies have higher operating costs and as a consequence are less competitive with foreign companies. First, I don’t believe in Cap and Trade. I believe that standards should be reduced to a level that must be determined by industry experts. And, that all companies should have a requirement to meet responsible and sensible standards. Consideration must be given to helping our U.S. companies be globally more competitive. No Cap and Trade please.