On Capitol Hill this week: Climate Issues
Posted by admin on 07/08/2009
Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held its 41st hearing or briefing on the subject of climate change since January 2007 and the first since House passage of H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, by a narrow vote of 219 to 212 on June 26, 2009.
The purpose of the hearing was to begin Senate deliberations on a legislative effort to reduce carbon emissions through a cap-and-trade approach. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar all urged for the Senate to quickly move forward following the House action.
However, some members of the Committee shared mixed views on the right policy approach, reflecting the concerns of many House members, including 44 Democrats, who voted against the bill because for fear that it would harm domestic industry. There was sharp disagreement at the hearing as to whether the U.S. should act unilaterally in the absence of action by China, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and India, which has publicly rejected efforts to control emissions.
On a related note, the House bill included a provision that requires the president, starting in 2020, to impose a “border adjustment” on goods imported from countries that do not have comparable limits on carbon emissions. Such a mechanism would impose a fee on the carbon content of goods imported from these countries and may be bypassed with a Congressional waiver. A well-designed border adjustment provision is vital to economic recovery and manufacturing growth, and at the same time, is critical to reducing global carbon emissions. In its absence, domestic manufacturing jobs in energy intensive industries could be moved offshore to industrialized countries such as India and China, which have not yet taken steps to limit carbon emissions and would potentially enjoy a comparative cost advantage. This trend is referred to as “carbon leakage” because it could also result in a net increase in global carbon emissions.
President Obama has expressed concerns that such a provision might send “protectionist signals.” However, it is important to note that a border adjustment mechanism does not violate WTO rules. In fact, a June 26, 2009, report released by the WTO and the United Nations Environment Programme said: “Rules permit, under certain conditions, the use of border tax adjustments on imported and exported products…The objective of a border tax adjustment is to level the playing field between taxed domestic industries and untaxed foreign competition by ensuring that internal taxes on products are trade neutral.”
A close look at the issue demonstrates that efforts to reduce global carbon emissions are dependent upon a strong border adjustment mechanism, or participation from other industrialized nations. American jobs would be at risk without such a provision, representing a “lose-lose” for efforts to address climate change as well as for our economy. The U.S. Senate should maintain and seek to improve upon the House provisions that “levels the playing field” with our global trading partners that do not restrict carbon emissions.
Moving forward, EPW Chairman Boxer has laid out a series of additional Senate hearings to address agriculture and transportation concerns with respect to a potential bill. She has also stated her desire to mark up legislation prior to the summer recess in August. Meanwhile, Majority Leader Reid has set a September 18 deadline for relevant committees to produces legislation to be incorporated into a larger bill to be considered on the Senate floor. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday to address international trade considerations. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is set to hold a hearing later on Wednesday afternoon to address our industrial competitiveness and the lessons learned from the European response to climate change. All of this leads up to the U.S. entering into international climate-change talks in Copenhagen this December.
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Harry Dingey Says: June
Harry Dingey Says:
June 30th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I want give you something to think about.
It is really a funny thing that the all the Highly Industrial Countries are all affected by this Financial Problem. All of these Industrial countries have one common thread that runs though all of those affected countries. However, the only difference is the degree of the Financial Problem in each country.
All the Industrial Countries of the World have been sending all their highest paid Jobs off shore to China in search of the lowest wages.
This has been going on for 15 years, every since all other Industrial Countries of the World followed America in to joining the WTO and canceling all their Import Tariffs.
America over the years has proven to be the best country in the whole world for creating new jobs, that’s why America was the wealthiest Country in the world till we joined NAFTA and the WTO in 1992 and 1993 respectfully.
Here is the problem; as fast as America creates new Jobs the Politicians advocate sending all of these higher paying Jobs off shore to Mexico, India or China in the name of Free Trade faster than America can create them.
That’s why China a third world country 15 years ago is getting much richer on the backs of American workers and America is going Bankrupt, it’s that simple.
What is the America Politicians Thinking? They are either being bought off by the Big International Bankers, International Manufacturing Companies or just plain stupid. I got a feeling it is not the latter.
I’ll bet Americans will have change of heart about Free Trade when they have lost everything and standing in the Soup line with their children.
The final analysis is that American Workers ends up working at Wal-mart as a check-out or at MacDonald’s flipping homburgs and China grows much wealthier and militarily stronger in the process more and more every year.
If that’s not enough the Politicians all refuse to build a concrete wall on our southern border to stop the Drug Pushers, Illegal Aliens and Terrorist from entering our Country Illegally.
What the hell type of Politicians do we have in Washington D.C.?
They are allowing more Cheap Illegal Drugs to flood our country through our southern border and drug pushers killing each other on our streets. Then all these Illegal drugs are allowed to flood our streets to addict all of our young children.
These Illegal Aliens who can’t speak English or do not even have elementary school education are causing the deterioration of our Wages standards in America and taking advantage of Free Medical Services.
In the end our children will have minority status in our great country.
What would you think of your Father and Grand-Father had they left you in such a position?
Then at some point in our future you can bet one of those terrorist will walk a weapon-of-Mass-Destruction across our southern border and kill a million or more Americans.
The Question is not if this will happen? But when it will happen?
The bottom line is that the whole world wants America to stay in NAFTA and WTO because they all want some of those High paying America JOBS that our politicians are moving off shore to the cheapest wage country.
Everyone keeps saying; Harry why are you preaching Protectionism, that is what, caused the Great Depression back in 1930s.
I say to you; “That’s Absolute Bull S-H-I-T.”
You know when they tell a lie often enough it will in time become the truth.
They all say that because they either didn’t check the history of American Free Trade or they are benefiting in someway from NAFTA or WTO.
Yes, America did pull out of some International Trade Agreements by passing Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed into law on June 17, 1930. That’s exactly what I am suggesting we do right now.
The truth is it had absolutely nothing to do with causing The Great Depression.
Read this you will know exact how Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, affected THE GREAT DEPRESSION:
Earlier today I visited the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Macro history Database. I clicked on Chapter 7 and then looked at the value of U.S. imports and the value of U.S. exports for each of the 120 months during the 1930s.
Turns out that for only 18 of the 120 months of that dreary decade did the United States run a trade deficit (that is, imported more, value-wise, than it exported). For each of the remaining 102 months of the decade of the 1930s the U.S. ran a trade surplus.
On an annual basis, the only year of the decade of the 1930s that the U.S. ran a trade deficit was 1936; in each of the other nine years the U.S. ran a trade surplus.
So, you see during the Great Depression American Trade Deficits was exactly the opposite in 1930s as they are right now.
This is nothing more than a 5th Grade mathematic problem.
America must pull out of NAFTA and the WTO to Survive. Here are the International Trade Balances for the year 2006. YOU FIGURE IT OUT FOR YOURSELF….
If America just stopped exporting everything in 2006 we would have LOST $ 1,440
Billion Dollars in Jobs.
America Imported ( $2,200 minus $386 (Oil Imports for 2006) = $1,814 Billion Dollars.
If America just stopped importing anything in 2006 we would have GAINED $ 1,814 Billion Dollars in Jobs.
The Question is: Would give up $1,440 Billion Dollars every year if you were guaranteed to receive $1,814 Billion Dollars in return?
That would be a Net Total Increase of $ 374 Billion Dollars of new Jobs created every year in America. These new JOBS would cost America absolutely nothing.
That is assuming America did not export one penny worth of goods during 2006.
What’s the best way our politicians can create NEWS JOBS in America?
“STOP GIVING THEM TO CHINA”.
Look at all this bailout money our politicians are borrowing from China to create JOBS. This is laughable and will only make things worse in the end. These bailouts will be a yearly advent and America will go farther and farther in debt to China.
The day America Pulls Out of NAFTA and the WTO, you will see all of our problems solved over night. All those International Manufactures will bust their A-S-S to bring back all those jobs they sent to China. Remember America has the Biggest and the wealthiest consumer Market in the whole world.
I am sure America will get a lot of flack for doing this. But, America must do this to SURVIVE or be totally destroyed.