from The Washington Post
The ‘Cap And Tax’ Dead End
By Sarah Palin
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America’s unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won’t bring jobs. Our nation’s debt is unsustainable, and the federal government’s reach into the private sector is unprecedented.
Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:
I am deeply concerned about President Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.
American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president’s cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.
There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn’t lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America’s economy.
Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.
In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.
The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.
The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet. As the president eloquently puts it, their electricity bills will “necessarily skyrocket.” So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.
Even Warren Buffett, an ardent Obama supporter, admitted that under the cap-and-tax scheme, “poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity.”
We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.
In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America. We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats.
Of course, Alaska is not the sole source of American energy. Many states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source. Westerners literally sit on mountains of oil and gas, and every state can consider the possibility of nuclear energy.
We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama’s plan will result in the latter.
For so many reasons, we can’t afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.
Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?
Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama’s energy cap-and-tax plan.
The writer, a Republican, is governor of Alaska.
I would shudder to think about her being interviewed on the topic rather than reading from what seems to be a prepared statement.
Ok. So you hate her. I get it.
“The point of cap and trade is to reduce pollution”
What pollution? CO2?
What a perfect demonstartion of ignorance and the lousy media we have.
Colorado Citizen, by saying “she doesn’t understand this issue,” you are holding Gov. Palin to a much higher standard than Obama, McCain, Waxman, Boxer and just about every other Democrat and Republican in DC. Why is that?
Palin was lionized by Democrats when she went after Republican corruption. Then she accepted the V.P. candidacy — and she became instantly hated and feared, especially by the Democrat establishment.
My friend’s wife, who is totally non-political, began reeling off Palin’s ‘faults’ within 48 hours of being named McCain’s VP candidate. They were the same canned talking points that still crop up in this thread [and everywhere else in the media]. They don’t address anything of substance — only ad homs about Palin, or her husband and kids.
That tells me a lot of folks are scared of her, and not because she’s incompetent. On the contrary; I think their marching orders and talking points come from officials who get very puckered up at the thought of someone coming into town with a clean broom.
Molon Labe (22:09:05) :
“I prefer my politicians to not believe the Earth was created in seven days.”
[snip] she doesn’t believe that.
Define 7 days for us. Maybe it’s not the 7 earth days your thinking of. Define time for us as well, is it one revolution of the earth or one trip around the sun? Or is it something you cannot understand?
REPLY: OK lets stop right there. This is not a religious studies forum. Further posts on the subject will be snipped – Anthony
Ultimatley cap and trade will also raise the cost of government at all levels with the cost of energy and all it produces soaring.
And where’s the money to pay for this rise in the cost of government?
Well, we’ll need big carbon taxes to pay for it which will raise the cost of everything even more.
All the while there will be no corresponding benefit to be found.
I can’t imagine a more insane circle of insanity. And to think it is being advanced with science?
Bless you Al Gore and James Hansen.
The point of cap and trade is NOT to reduce pollution. It is to reduce the size of the money left in your wallet each payday. At this rate it won’t be long before your entire paycheck goes directly to the government. Then you will have to file forms (in triplicate!) every week asking for a bit of it back to feed your starving family. But at least the planet will be saved!
North Korea, here we come! Personally, I love tree bark soup…
During the presidential campaign, Sarah had to toe the line with McCain’s policies. As his Veep, she didn’t have a lot of wriggle room to put forth her own views.
Now, as her own independent agent, she can put forward her views unencumbered by the political views of others. I think she speaks out of honesty, not political expediency or the issue du jour.
Oh, and Obama doesn’t like her because she is prettier than he is.
Re the ‘Palin is a Creationist’ red herring, I had this discussion with my daughter (an evolutionary biologist) back during the campaign. Here’s what I wrote then, citing the infamous interview with Katie Couric:
/Mr Lynn
“her past comments make her look like a flip-flopper on such issues.”
Again, why hold her to a standard higher than other politicians? We elected probably the biggest waffler in history this last election. Apparently, saying one thing and doing the opposite is not an impediment to election to high office in this country.
I think I read what describes it best someplace yesterday … “She’s not a woman, she’s a Republican”. In other words, none of the standard rules will apply to her. Her family will be fair game for attack while the families of other politicians are “off limits”. Every little nuance of what she says will be picked apart. And part of the reason is to keep OTHER women from speaking up because her political opposition likes to cast itself as the party for women so any woman with an R after her name must be made to pay dearly.
One very interesting thing. Palin’s PAC (SarahPAC) raised nearly a million dollars so far this year. Almost 800K before she resigned and 200K since. The majority of the donations were from small amounts of under $200. In other words, average people. In contrast, Obama raised a smaller percentage from small donations in 2008 than either Bush or Kerry did in 2004 and less than Palin is raising now. Obama’s donations came from the “whales”. Also, voter turnout in 2008 was about the same in 2004. Obama won the 2008 election by about the same margin that Bush won in 2004. Palin could energize the population and get them to the voting booth. Mid-term elections generally have low turnout compared to years with Presidential elections. Maybe she will change that by getting people fired up and getting them to the voting booth. The Democrats are afraid of that possibility, too.
(hey, this is a “politics” thread, right?)
Colorado Citizen: “She didn’t even go there, but rather, argued it won’t reduce our dependency on foreign oil.”
Recently, I wrote to Congressman Jay Inslee (D) regarding my objections to cap and trade. He responded with this: “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the average cost of getting off of foreign oil and protecting ourselves from climate change by enacting this bill will be 44 cents per day per household.”
It seems to me that foreign oil dependency is a (D) talking point. For Palin to address THEIR claim seems appropriate. Perhaps you can explain why ( D’s) make such a dubious claim.
Well, I hope you’ll let mine (with the Couric interview quote) pass, as I posted it before seeing your obiter dictum. Besides, it’s relevant to scientists.
/Mr Lynn
Steven Hill,
I haven’t made up my mind about Gov Palin even now, but the criticism of her is way out of proportion to any substance. Lots of politicians would have caved under less pressure.
Look at Newt Gingrich, for example, who accepted a perfectly legal book advance, and then resigned when he was criticized for it by Democrats — who promptly saw financial opportunity themselves, and began accepting their own book advances.
And the Earth being created in “7 days” is clearly allegorical. How could there be a day, when there was no Earth? Before the Earth existed, a “day” might have been one revolution of the Milky Way.
The 1st Amendment says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”. Even politicians are covered by this, whether the opposition likes it or not. And they still have the right to free speech. Some folks don’t like that, either. Seems to be a little hypocrisy in the air, no?
Walt Stone (23:16:53) :
You need to ask not only if she wrote the piece herself, but if she just repeated what her teleprompter told her to write. Yes, we understand that everyone other elected official performs everything 100% autonomously. Only Sarah requires assistance.
Others,
Please please stop listening to the Lame-Stream Media. And please realize that a belief in God does NOT mean that you take every word of the bible verbatim. When the hypothesis of the ‘origin of the universe’ and the ‘origin of species’ were shown to follow available data they were promoted to Theories. There are still gaps in each. They have not yet been promoted to Laws. Please do not treat them as such.
“Brace yourselves for this, gentle WUWT readers and AGW skeptics: most alarmists assume the very same thing about YOU. Little wonder that they are incapable of listening to anything you say.”
Yup that’s how you can tell they are pig-ignorant and sub-rational. Actually it’s rather fun watching the Climate pile ridicule upon ridicule on the alarmists. It will, however, be important to harness the guilty backlash when eventually the hysteria breaks to try and approach the cooling period with some practical sensible plans.
Anyone interested in a “When they Wake Up” blog/thread to discuss practical measures to handle short growing seasons etc.
Nice to see the trolls have show up to talk about Palin’s “issues” rather than address the argument that the good governor is making. Governor Palin has always been a champion for producing more energy domestically, so her piece in the WaPo breaks no new ground. She recognizes the need for the nation to aggressively exploit its own energy resources.
The fact remains that the United States and its two neighbors sit atop the world’s largest known hydrocarbon deposits/reserves in the world (oil, coal, tar sands, oil shale, natural gas and methane hydrates). The USGS estimates that Alaska alone may be sitting on coal reserves in the neighborhood of 3 TRILLION metric tons (almost all light coal, but usable as feeder stock for carbon-based fuels). However, because ‘everyone’ is focused on the CO2 emission bogeyman tapping into those resources are taboo.
But consider if what many of us here at Watts site believe is happening happens (the global is entering a prolonged cooling phase). The CO2 bogeyman will be shown for what is it: a strawman. And all the arguments against using Fischer-Tropsch processes to convert coal into fuel (ie Alaskan light coal), of channeling the nation’s focus into ‘clean’ oil shale and tar sand extraction processes rather than “they-will-never-produce-enough-energy-and-they-can-only-be-viable-thru-subsidies” alternative energy sources (ergo wind, solar and biomass), and all the rest become moot.
Why wouldn’t we develop our 400 year proven reserves of coals if we weren’t worried about CO2 emissions? Or our trillions upon trillions cubic feet of methane gas locked up in methane hydrates off our coasts. Or the 1.5 trillion barrels of oil estimated in the oil shale deposits in the Rockies. Not to mention the oil deposits on the North Slope and off our coasts. We wouldn’t.
Hydrocarbon energy will remain the most economically viable and technology feasible energy source for the foreseeable future (30-50 years). And Mrs. P has positioned herself to look America in the eye, wink and says “You betcha!” when the day comes when it becomes apparent to all that the behavior of the sun is what drives Earth’s climate, not what us puny humans do.
Ms Palin’s every utterance is on the “Instant Immolation Required” checklist for every MSM goofball. The response to the WaPo article was obviously pre-canned, well coordinated and extremely widely dispersed in the media. This woman really puts the wind up the liberals, for reasons that I cannot fathom.
Another woman Republican (Meg Whitman) is stepping into the political arena, too. It will be interesting to see if she gets the “Palin treatment”. Whitman is former CEO of eBay and is running for California governor.
A few points: If Palin supported cap and trade during the campaign it was because the party’s candidate supported it. You notice that when asked the question, she didn’t elaborate. She was doing her job and supporting the candidate.
Secondly, Palin was immediately attacked by the left because she gave the best and most lovable speech of the campaign at the Republican convention and immediately became the hero of many women in the country because of her story. Most women are apolitical, but they know an authentic, honest women when they see one. Working-class women flocked to her in huge numbers. Democrats had to get her negatives up and the fact that they are still lucubrating at this task 9 months after the election is a reflection of their level of fear over her widespread popularity.
It’s a sordid business, but when faced with unpalatable programs and a failing economy, it’s all they’ve got.
Steven Hill (07:53:57) :
Molon Labe (22:09:05) :
Anthony,
As uncomfortable as it may seem, there is always a point where the lines between religion and science get awfully blurry, It is at times impossible to keep religion and science separated.
Often times science does indeed begin with religion – a nice symbolic story to explain something we don’t yet understand. Example, if you substitute “7 days” with “7 stages”, then the Bible actually offers a fairly accurate account of how the earth and life were formed.
So, I don’t really always agree with booting religion out of a scientific discussion. Religion often serves to formulate the first crude hypotheses, thus providing a base on which science can build.
REPLY: You can certainly disagree. But I make the decision. Please no more on religion here. – Anthony
Science can no better explain the origins of the universe than religion. Big Bang is probably a term us entertainment junkies relate better to nowadays then say a term like “God”. The bottom line is that they are probably the same.
If you want my opinion, I bet a religious leader could far better explain climate than, let’s say, Gavin Schmidt or the other muppets at RC.
One side says nature (Mother Nature, or the G-word) drives climate, and the other side says man drives it!
She’s making the news on this. Getting it national attention.
I can see her stump speech in 2011:
” I was against Cap & Trade when everyone around me was following blindly. Personally, I found it to be an idea dumber than dirt.”
As I have said here before, a President is no better than his closest advisors.
The info being fed to the top on this is as bad as it gets.
Leon Brozyna (07:01:38)
whoops – couple small details to correct in my earlier post –
She also has another case in Georgia this Thursday, July 16, for a temporary restraining order against his chain of command (up to Def Secy Gates & (alleged) President/CinC Obama) for a military officer refusing to ship to Afghanistan until questions of legitimacy are resolved.
Also –
pyromancer76 (07:26:49)
Your last para is spot on. Also applies to the rising GOP star, Bobby Jindal, whose parents were still immigrants & not naturalized when he was born in the US. So he’s US citizen by birth, but not natural born.
One thing the pundits are certainly wrong about, in addition to AGW, is their ridiculous claim that Sarah Palin is washed
up – no longer a player on the political front.
One opinion in the WaPO, and the climate and energy websites are abuzz. Keep ’em coming Sarah!
Hoi Polloi (06:13:12) :
No jokin.
The old men in the GOP lost theirs years ago. In fact they ought to join Bob Dole in promoting Viagra. Better yet, they ought to start taking the stuff themselves.
Don S. (08:30:28) :
“……….. This woman really puts the wind up the liberals, for reasons that I cannot fathom.”
I am a Republican Party activist in what most would call a conservative county in the Great State of Texas. Days prior to Sarah P coming on board, the usual comment was “I guess I have to take one of those (self-snipped) McCain yard signs”.
The day her candidacy was announced, people came into the office and demanded “I want a Palin yard sign!” Some went so far as to cut what’s his name (you know, the wrinkley old guy that was only a Democrat in drag) off of their sign. The effect was electric.
(I confronted a McCain campaign person at the Texas State Republican Convention about McCain’s stance on AGW. He defended the position as reaching out to moderates. I wondered at the time if we were going to read of McCain tapping his foot in the men’s room to reach out to the GLBT minority. How low was he willing to stoop to in order to “reach out”?)
Sarah P did make some mistakes. In particular, she let the fools in McCain’s campaign coach her. They didn’t like her because she wasn’t from the elite like they are, she went to the wrong school, and she talked funny. And one of the things she was told to say was about cap and trade.
As for the MSM. First, they are frightened to death of her because she is the only politician that connects to the majority of us “great unwashed”. And second, she has the temetry to challenge their elite leaders and their own elite status.
They have to destroy her: She is their worst nightmare.
Regards,
Steamboat Jack