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Special to the Tri-City Herald (published in the 3/6/09 edition)
Washington
families and businesses can't afford 'cap and trade'
By Rep. Larry Haler
They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
They also say the devil is in the details.
Both timely axioms ring true when discussing Gov. Gregoire’s “cap
and trade” proposals moving through Olympia.
Let me start off by saying that I support cleaning up and protecting our
environment. I live and work
in a region that has seen one of the world’s most toxic environmental
cleanups. When people talk
about environment and energy issues, these are things that we in the
Tri-Cities know in intimate detail.
That’s why the cap and trade idea has intrigued me from the beginning.
It’s also why I started to familiarize myself with the intended
and unintended consequences of this proposal.
The cap and trade legislation is an idea put forth by the Western
Climate Initiative, which currently includes seven Western states and
four Canadian Provinces. The idea
is to cap the amount of carbon emitted in the state from businesses
producing over a certain amount.
Companies will have to purchase "allowances" from the government for the
right to emit greenhouse gasses. If
companies don't have enough allowances to cover their emissions, they
will have to pay a fine up to $10,000 per day or try to purchase unused
emission credits from other companies.
While this doesn’t sound too menacing so far, a closer look reveals
questions and uncertainty that are job-killers for our businesses which
compete on a global scale.
For example, the secondary market created to buy and sell the emissions
credits would be under the rules of interstate commerce and therefore
under the purview of the federal government.
Washington state would have no legal authority over a business
from California selling or buying credits to or from a company in
Washington.
There's also nothing to prevent an investment firm from buying up excess
allowances from businesses in our state and then selling them to states
like California or Oregon. Washington companies could be put out of
business in a heartbeat simply because additional, necessary emissions
credits are too expensive or unavailable.
Furthermore, the
process of “reporting emissions” and all of the subsequent options
available for businesses cost money.
These costs will be passed on to consumers resulting in higher
energy, gas, utility, and goods and services bills for struggling
families.
We also heard businesses testify in the House Ecology and Parks
Committee that if the cap and trade proposals are put into law, they
would have no choice but to pack their bags and relocate.
Cardinal Glass, which operates three plants in Washington and employees
over 500 people, manufactures energy efficient glass and solar panels.
During committee testimony, a company official said:
“Glass manufacturing is an energy-intensive process.
There are no alternative manufacturing techniques and there are
no viable technologies to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide within our
industry. We will look to
relocate our facilities to other states not bound by the restrictions of
the Western Climate Initiative.”
At a time when jobs are scarce, can we afford to implement policies that
will force family-wage jobs to other states?
It is much easier to keep existing jobs rather than create new
ones. How many blue- and
white-collar jobs – jobs that support the Tri-Cities region – will we
lose to create one green-collar job?
I think we can all agree that the environment is worth protecting, but
at what cost? Washington is
already one of the cleanest states in the Union.
We have stringent, effective environmental policies in place.
We have cheap, abundant, clean hydropower and our state’s
emissions only account for three-tenths of one percent of the world’s
greenhouse gasses! We are
truly the envy of every other state in the nation.
During committee testimony, a supporter of the governor’s cap and trade
proposal said this: “There will be
pain; there will be winners and losers; there will be economic
displacement.”
Does that sound like something our state’s economy, our employers and
our families can afford right now?
We’re losing jobs left and right.
I believe now is not the time to create policies that raise
consumer prices, cost our state jobs and increases regulatory and
financial burdens on our businesses and hard-working families.
(Rep. Larry Haler, R-Richland, represents the 8th Legislative
District and serves on the House Technology, Energy and Communications
Committee. He has over 34
years’ experience in the nuclear industry.)
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For more information, contact:
Brendon Wold, Senior
Information Officer: (360) 786-7698
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