Last week various newspapers reported about the special election in Massachusetts and how it could affect the success of President Obama’s policy agenda, including climate change. In fact, The Winnipeg Free Press reports the following in their article, “Obama’s loss is our gain”:
The political setback will stop Obama’s cap-and-trade bill on greenhouse gas emissions dead in its tracks. This is excellent news for Canada. The so-called Waxman-Markey Bill, which was passed by the House by a very narrow margin, would dole out green energy subsidies that various states and municipalities are planning to use to discriminate against Canadian energy imports. It would also designate Canada’s oilsands as “dirty fuel” and prohibit the U.S. federal government from using it. Even if Canada set up a similar system of cap-and-trade, the chances that American lobbies would start trade action is huge. With good sense and prudence, Ottawa is trying to make Canadian rules as similar as possible to the American regime.
While the status of climate legislation in Washington, D.C. may now be questionable, the threat of Low-Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) still exists. Indeed, many states and regions across the nation are working to pass LCFS proposals, particularly in the Mid-West, the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic.
This is why Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) continues to work to educate, inform and engage American consumers about the economic and national security threats that an LCFS poses. Oilprice.com reports these points in their story, “Canada’s Alluring Energy Supply Regaining it’s Lustre Despite Continued Criticism”:
Some American government officials, including a group of Northeastern governors, are beckoning for a low-carbon fuel standard that would stem Canadian crude oil from spilling into the United States, said Travis Windle, spokesman for the Washington-based Consumer Energy Alliance. The non-partisan group, which advocates wise energy use, is pushing a national advertising campaign about the low-carbon fuel standard.
On the whole, the United States is bent on beefing up its oil ties, Windle noted, adding the reserves account for 20 percent of American energy. Last August, the State Department gave the go-ahead for a pipeline called the Alberta Clipper to carry crude from Canada to U.S. refineries in Wisconsin.
Despite the fact that the Alberta Clipper pipeline is being developed to carry crude from Canada to U.S. refineries in Wisconsin, the Badger State is currently working to pass an LCFS proposal that would actually block these fuel supplies from entering the state.
Fortunately for Wisconsinites, Scott Manley with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has been leading the charge on this issue in Wisconsin and educating consumers about the negative consequences of this proposal. In fact, he shares his concerns with Wisconsin’s global warming legislation in the following Green Bay Press Gazette op-ed:
The so-called Low Carbon Fuel Standard would cost Wisconsin motorists more than $3.2 billion in higher gas prices according to the WPRI study. This global warming gas tax could cost consumers as much as 61 cents per gallon according to a study by the Marshall Institute. All told, these expensive policies are projected to cost each Wisconsin family more than $1,000 each year by the time they are fully implemented. Worse yet, the supporters of this misguided bill have not identified any meaningful benefit that would be achieved relative to global temperatures or climate.
Last month Manley took to the pages of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to highlight the devastating economic effects associated the LCFS legislation that was recently introduced. In a column entitled “Global warming bill kills state jobs,” Manley writes:
Wisconsin families cannot afford these tremendously expensive policies given our current recession and fragile economy. Wisconsin has the single-most manufacturing-intensive economy in the country. Our family-supporting manufacturing jobs pay an average wage of $62,959 – more than 35% higher than the state average. Unfortunately, we already have lost 160,000 manufacturing jobs in the past decade, including 60,000 jobs lost since 2008 alone.
In light of the critical effects that an LCFS could have on jobs and the economy in the U.S., the governors in the Mid-West, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic that are currently considering an LCFS – as well as leaders in Washington – should consider these facts and stop these policies while they still can.
