Energy innovation needs investment, not taxation

Kansas City Star , Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Correspondent : By SAM BROWNBACK
Few issues currently before Congress are more hotly debated and critical to the future health or our economy than climate change legislation.

I strongly believe it’s essential we as a nation continue moving forward in developing cleaner forms of energy, and I believe we can do this from a balanced approach. By promoting greater wind energy development; promoting expanded production in biodiesel, corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol; investing in carbon capture and sequestration technology; supporting nuclear energy; encouraging continued research in clean coal technology; and developing our expansive domestic supply of domestic oil and gas, I truly believe our nation can significantly reduce carbon emissions while promoting greater energy independence.

The way forward is through investment and innovation, not taxation and regulation. I do not support sweeping cap-and-trade legislation that would have detrimental economic impacts on our country, all while doing little to reduce overall global temperatures. The current analysis on the national impacts should the Waxman Markey bill be signed into law is staggering. One study, conducted by the Energy Information Administration, has projected up to 2.3 million fewer jobs and cumulative losses in gross domestic product up to $3 trillion by the year 2030.

Beyond the national impacts, what’s even more troubling to me are the direct negative impacts climate change legislation would have on Kansans. A recent study by the National Association of Manufacturers estimates that by the year 2030 as reduction mandates become more stringent and free allocations of allowance are largely phased out, Kansas will see more than 20,000 jobs lost under a best-case scenario projection.

Unfortunately, the bleak outlook doesn’t stop at job losses. Kansas City Power & Light estimates that by 2013, Kansas ratepayers will see utility rates increase by as much as 37 percent, and as much as 54 percent by 2020. And here’s the kicker: Those rate increases assume the carbon trading scheme set up to trade allocations on an international market will work as planned. KCP&L estimates that if the global carbon trading mechanism is a bust, ratepayers can expect to see a 44 percent increase in their utility rates in the next two years!

The current cap-and-trade proposals will also have devastating effects on the many hard-working Kansan farmers. Farmers use electricity, fuel to run tractors and other farm equipment, and energy intensive fertilizers and chemicals to grow crops. Cap-and-trade legislation that artificially drives up the cost of planting crops and harvesting will have substantial negative effects on our farming industry. Additionally, the climate change bills before Congress do not require foreign countries to impose similar mandates on their farmers. Therefore, Kansas farmers would be disadvantaged in competing against foreign agricultural producers who don’t have to pay artificially high prices for energy-intensive farming inputs.

I support policies to promote clean, renewable forms of energy, while conserving our world’s most important natural habitats. This is why I voted to favorably report out of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee the American Clean Energy Leadership Act of 2009. This legislation would require a federal renewable electricity standard, supports nuclear power development, advances the expansion of energy-efficient buildings and opens up areas of the eastern Gulf of Mexico for the exploration and development of oil and natural gas.

Members on both sides of the aisles continue to advocate for bipartisan measures that will increase jobs and stimulate our economy. Our Senate energy bill is exactly that measure, and I will continue to advocate to my colleagues the need to take up this bill immediately.

America has always flourished under an environment of investment and innovation. By focusing on this approach, and not one based on taxation and regulation, I believe we will continue moving forward as we work to grow the Kansas economy.

Sam Brownback is a Republican U.S. senator from Kansas and a likely Republican candidate for Kansas governor.

 
SOURCE : Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/05/03/1921369/energy-innovation-needs-investment.html#ixzz0n7Cv3eMt
 


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