American Clean Energy And Security Act Of 2009

Today, the U.S.

House of Representatives passed a historic piece of legislation called the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES).� This bill will create a cap and trade system on our energy industry with the goal of reducing emissions and moving away from fossil fuels to more renewable energies.� But what does this 1,200 page document really mean for the future of America?It is well established that climate change is occurring (though you can debate the effect of humans in this process) and that anything we can do to help our environment is a good thing, but at what cost?� The Democrats in the House have effectively passed the largest tax increase in history with this bill which has some great potential to put America at a disadvantage in the global marketplace.� Any wise business will take its business elsewhere when faced with our newly imposed system, so we now need to pressure other countries such as India and China to enact similar policies or else we will see these nations conquering the global market in the future.� This cannot be a unilateral movement or America will pay the price.Another trouble with the passage of this bill is the way in which it was passed.� There is no possible way that our representatives were given the proper amount of time to fully understand what they were voting on.� The bill was a 1,200 page document and the legislators were joking about how none of them had actually fully read it!� This is not good governing!� It is understandable for citizens not to know the full extent of a law, but when the people that are passing these bills don't know what they are voting on that is when our government is not doing a good job.Additionally, little attention was given to the Republican alternative given by Representative Randy Forbes (R-VA) that would create a new Manhattan Project for American energy independence.� Several times in history America has put its mind to a project and its entrepreneurial spirit has flown us to the moon.� The Forbes Amendment would have created a similar sense of urgency by setting a prize for the first group to make 70 mpg vehicles that are affordable, cut home and business energy usage in half, make solar power work at the same cost as coal, make biofuels cost-competitive with gasoline, safely and cheaply capture carbon emissions and store them, safely store or neutralize nuclear waste, and produce usable electricity from nuclear fusion.� This amendment would give America the change it deserves by granting America 100% energy independence by the year 2030!� Why was this not given greater consideration?I am glad that our Representatives are looking for ways to be good stewards of our earth, but they cannot let politics get in the way of what is good for America.



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