John Coleman on the California Cap and Trade Law

Big Sur, California (Photo credit: the_tahoe_guy)

The only thing I can say to those of you who live in California is, you get the representation that you vote for, and deserve it if you don’t recognize the source of your problems.

Excerpt: John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel, writes on his Facebook Page:

Basically, the concept of Cap and Trade is try to force companies that produce carbon dioxide and “other greenhouse gases” to reduce their emissions or buy offsets by paying the State of California fees that the State will then (supposedly) use to offset the effects of that release of CO2 into the air. The State’s first Auction of Cap and Trade off-sets in November is expected to produce 1 billion dollars for the State. The Governor said he wanted to use this money on the high speed train project, but the State Legislature intervened and designated the money for other mass transit and related projects. Skeptics think the money will end up being applied against the State’s huge budget shortfall and end up paying the upscale wages and pensions of State Officials and employees. 

In any case, that billion dollars will come from us, you and me. It will come in the form of greatly increased prices for gasoline (estimates go as high as 7 dollars a gallon) and electricity and water and food, etc. We will be charged these increased prices to offset the carbon credits paid by refiners, farmers, water districts, truckers, etc. It will be an indirect, huge tax increase.

This is California’s action to save us from the horrors of global warming.

Here is what I think. There is no significant man-made global warming. Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. It is, however, a very minor greenhouse gas that causes a smidgen of warming, but not enough to create any problem. So we are going to further wreck the economy of California to save us from a non-problem. And, even if we totally eliminated CO2 releases in California we would only cut the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by less than 1 percent. All of the rest of the World produces over 99 percent of the carbon dioxide in the air, and the atmosphere knows no state boundaries.

So the Cap and Trade is really bad idea, based on faulty science and about to increase the cost of living for the typical California family of four by as much as $4,500 a year.

And, I don’t see any way to stop it.

Read full article here.