Jun
25
HR 2998 Energy Independence Comes With a Price, The Carbon Tax
June 25, 2009 | Tagged alternative energy, cap and trade, carbon tax, HHO, oil addiction |
The Status of HR 2998 can be tracked here
I have just completed a cursory read of H.R. 2998, as introduced on June 23, 2009. I have two basic themes in my response:
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I agree that the United States needs to become energy self sufficient using all methods available, both current and future, whether or not renewable, but with bias going toward renewable energy sources, and renewable energy technologies such as HHO gas (derived by electrolysis of water) where it can be used efficiently (HHO, so far, has been relegated to the ranks of individual experimenters who have DARED stand up to the oil behemoths), and
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I vehemently DISAGREE with the tenets of the leftists [Henry Waxman] leading the charge here that we need some sort of CARBON TAX or CAP-and-TRADE (cap and tax) system to somehow regulate carbon emissions.
Let me expand on issue number one:
This nation, and the world, needs to use the available natural energy resources wisely, whether they be crude oil, natural gas, coal, solar, wind, or safe nuclear power, coupled with technologies that have been around for a while and new technologies that can help us achieve a lesser dependence on hydrocarbon fuels. Some of these technologies can be seen in action on YouTube.com and other places by searching for such terms as “alternative energy”, or “over unity energy”. I’m sure some of these things could be hoaxes, but a good number of them appear to be very legitimate, and the oil companies surely wouldn’t want them to be developed commercially.
HHO Gas, or Brown’s Gas, is my current area of personal experimentation. Stanley Meyer, among others, had a car that ran exclusively on nothing more than water… yes… just water. There are currently hundreds, if not thousands of us currently experimenting with this technology, and it seems to hold great promise when combined with the use of ordinary hydrocarbon fuels, such as gasoline or diesel. WE WILL NOT BE DETERRED by HR2998, nor the oil companies, but why were HHO gas and similar technologies not included in H.R. 2998? Was it because of lobbying efforts of the EXISTING automobile manufacturers, whose only answer to date has been “We don’t have that kind of technology yet… it can’t be done…” and who have a vested interest in producing an electric vehicle that only goes about 30 miles before it needs a re-charge, or hybrids that get a measly 35 or 40 MPG? Look up Tesla Motor Corporation and see what they’ve done with the technology at their disposal. Move over, Ford, Chevy, even Toyota. Honda, to their credit, has developed and is marketing the Honda FCX (hydrogen fuel cell vehicle); that at least, is a step in the right direction.
Now for issue number two:
Cap-and-Trade, Cap-and-Tax, Carbon Tax… whatever you want to call it, is STILL A TAX that is going to paid by us, our children, and our grandchildren, for many years to come. It IS NOT going to be paid by corporations or other entities… corporations don’t pay taxes; people do… the costs of these types of taxes are ALWAYS ultimately passed on to the ultimate consumer of a product or service; and that is YOU and ME.
Cap-and-Trade is unnecessary, and is largely meant to force us to do what the Kyoto Treaty could not; which is to abandon our way of life for that of third-world countries, while not being allowed to pollute the environment like they still can. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m an environmentalist myself. I believe we have a great responsibility to preserve what God gave us here in the universe in which we live. That having been said, FORCING the populace to change their lifestyle AND be taxed for it at the same time is pure insanity.
This nation is already reeling from the financial woes brought on by the over-consumption economy that sprang up after World War II, which culminated in the average American family having not only a sports car in every garage, but an SUV to boot; not to mention huge screen TV sets, huge houses, an i-Pod for every kid, etc. I am not against these things, IF one can afford them. The average consumer cannot, however, as is evidenced by the large number of foreclosures on homes, and the cinch put on them by higher than normal fuel and food prices.
I used to ask myself (and my wife), “How do all of these people [around us] afford the big houses, with the brand-new SUV or European sports car sitting in the driveway, the big-screen TV in the big living room?” Now I understand. You see, we don’t own a flat-screen TV, and ALL of our three cars (we actually NEED 3 vehicles, as I have to drive one to leave at a distant airport all week, so I can fly air-freight for a big white, purple and orange air carrier all week) are older than 1994 models; one is a sports car, one is an SUV (4WD pickup), and we’re STILL not saving as much for retirement as we should be. We’re not bankrupt though, and have not been foreclosed upon… yet. If we are taxed more, we just might become a statistic.
The bottom line: Americans need another tax, by whatever method it comes, like they need a hole in their head. When are the politicians going to sit up and take notice of what they are perpetrating on their constituents? When are the “commoners” going to sit up and take notice of what their hallowed incumbent politicians are doing to them and their grandchildren? Cap-and-Trade is a horrible idea.
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Carbon tax is supposedly essential to reduce the emissions that are driving global warming. Yet, 30,000 scientists say that global warming is a hoax and is bad science. Carbon tax will allow the government to basically tax anything and everything. The world body is moving ahead with a global conference to lay the groundwork for world government financed by global taxes. U.N. General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto, the New York Times said, believes the way out of the global financial crisis “should be lined with all manner of new global institutions, authorities and advisory boards,” including the Global Stimulus Fund, the Global Public Goods Authority, the Global Tax Authority, the Global Financial Products Safety Commission, the Global Financial Regulatory Authority, the Global Competition Authority, the Global Council of Financial and Economic Advisers, the Global Economic Coordination Council, and the World Monetary Board.