Letter to the Editor

Displeased with decision

Sunday, July 19, 2009

To the Editor:

Wake up people.

If someone handed you one million dollars and said you could keep it if you signed a paper without reading it, would you sign the paper?

That is exactly what Congress did when they voted for this energy bill (Cap and Trade or Cap and Tax).

Most people do not know what is in this bill or how it will affect every individual.

It is called Cap and Trade because the government wants to put a cap on the amount of greenhouse gases dispersed in the air and then tax you for those supposedly dispersed pollutants. Trade comes in when you go over the cap, and must buy permits from someone that is not polluting up to their allowed cap.

They talk about controlling greenhouse gases and CO2. They want to say we are increasing the amount of CO2 in the air. I've never heard of any study that says CO2 is increasing or if it did, it would be harmful. I seriously doubt if there were any studies from many years ago that could be used for comparison.

Neither I, nor our legislators, are knowledgeable about greenhouse gases. Green houses are usually used for growing plants, which use carbon dioxide (CO2) and give off oxygen.

Maybe farmers should be demanding they be given the right to sell permits since it is highly unlikely they would disperse more CO2 from fuels than their crops would use.

We know Congress plans on allowing each company a certain amount of pollution, however, we don't know how this will be measured and who will do it. Supposedly, permits will have to be bought if they exceed the allotted amount.

Who will do this and how will the government decide you are polluting too much and need to buy more permits?

Where will these permits come from?

Who will have the ability to provide permits and how did they get them?

Who is going to control the trade (purchase or sales) of these permits?

Have you heard Al Gore say that he bought permits when he was confronted with the fact that he had a very large house? Who did he buy them from? Himself, or more specifically, his company? Who gave him this ability? No one.

Let's remember when companies get taxed too much, they will go somewhere else, most likely, out of the country.

How will the government control the amount of fossil fuels individuals use? Will it be an allotted amount of fuel stamps for each family? What will they do about those of us that have our own wood to burn for heat?

Congress has already passed this bill without reading it, but the Senate has not discussed it nor voted on it. At this time, they have delayed doing this until September or later.

First, we need to know what is in this bill. There are too many questions.

It seems to me that government is trying to take more control of our lives. Be sure to let your Senator know how you feel.

Roberta Buell,

Bowling Green