Cap and Trade Bill?? What the heck is it?

[RedStarDaddy]

Quote:
There was a time when Greenland was, well, green. And Vinland, that icebound corner of Canada, had grape vines growing on it. People walked on them then named them according to their salient characteristics.

The climate changes. Nobody is denying that. In this corner of Iowa it has been colder this year than it has been in decades; records are falling almost by the day for lowest low and lowest high and earliest freeze and last freeze. The question is not "How much does the climate change"; the question is "How much of climate change is due to human activity?"

Something else interesting. The term is now "Climate Change" because people noticed that the climate wasn't warming, as implied by the term "Global Warming"; instead, it is cooling. So change the tune and continue the march.

Anthropomorphic climate change is still a highly suspect theory in my mind, and the fact that the proponents of it are using their control of the media and the researchers' funding to stifle its frank and open discussion is more than a little -- okay, more than a lot -- suspicious. You know the scientific method -- put your theory out there and let everybody have at it. Except that isn't happening with the theory of anthropomorphic climate change. That tells me that the theory will not stand any scrutiny at all if its proponents stifle that scrutiny at every turn.

RSD

 

[1acrefarm]

Quote:
Absolutely. In the seventies they used to call it global cooling and they preached if we did not change our lifestyles we would soon be in an ice age.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
That's what I'm thinking, it's starting to turn into a (bad 'P' word) thread

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

Quote:
It's too bad that some will ruin it for all.
I don't know much about this bill either- other than what I have read here. Will be interesting to look into it further.

 

[1acrefarm]

http://wizbangblog.com/content/2006/04/02/before-global-warming-there-wa.php

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
It's too bad that some will ruin it for all.
I don't know much about this bill either- other than what I have read here. Will be interesting to look into it further.

That's why I asked, I knew nothing about it until the commercial I saw last night. We have a hard enough time paying the electric bill as it is, I'd hate for this to go through! I'm all for helping the environment, but if this goes through, we'll probably go to just-wood heat. How would that help?

 

[GrayDragon]

Quote:
Out of sight, out of mind, and who cares what it does to the ocean that provides most of the oxygen we breath and a large percentage of the food we eat? We'd be better off (and provide more jobs) sending it to the moon.

Quote:
Would you be so kind as to provide a valid source for this information? Since California adopted the IBC (same did all other states and the District of Columbia) a few years back, I have to assume your source of information was false or woefully out of date.

Quote:
Unfortunately, they are only doing that now because of government intervention.

Absolutely. In the seventies they used to call it global cooling and they preached if we did not change our lifestyles we would soon be in an ice age

Actually, if you've studied the topic, you would know that global warming and global cooling are the same phenomenon. If you saw the movie 'Day After Tomorrow', for all the science in that left something to be desired it's a decent enough overview for why global warming leads to global cooling. Ice caps melt, affect the ocean currents, which effect the weather, which causes global cooling. Failure to understand the science involved doesn't make the science involved necessarily false.

Quote:
If you read scientific journals, there is actually a LOT of scrutiny going on with this topic, a lot of alternate theories, and a lot of debate on the subject. There is no attempt to stifle the scrutiny of the theory, the scrutiny is actually encouraged and I really wish people would stop spreading that bit of propaganda. One subscription to National Geographic alone is evidence that propaganda is false.

The problem is that the folks claiming that a global climate shift is not in the process of occurring have absolutely no scientific basis for their claims, and scientific journals do have standards that a paper must meet. Since they can't meat the standards, they instead pull the 'sour grapes' defense in much the same manner my cousin curses literary agents for not wanting to take on the responsibility of getting her dreck published. A global climate shift is occuring, all that is left to be debated is the how, why, when, and who involved. To say humans have had no effect whatsoever on their environment is just wishful thinking, the only question remains the degree of effect.

History shows a weather shift every few thousand years or so. We are about due for another one. Humans may have sped up the time table by a couple hundred years or so, but, just like we don't understand the effects of a butterfly in Denmark flapping it's wings has on a tornado in Kansas, we'll probably never be able to say for certain.​

 

[Wifezilla]

There was a time when Greenland was, well, green. And Vinland, that icebound corner of Canada, had grape vines growing on it.

And half of Wisconsin used to be covered in a sheet of ice. We could go back to that, but I am sure the Canadians might get a bit ticked. I say lets go WAY back and reunite Pangea!!!

"Last Friday’s vote in the House of Representatives on the Cap & Tax Trade bill contained a surprise gift for home sellers. This new provision would take place at “point of sale”, meaning before your home transaction could close you would be required to have an energy audit performed. Similar in nature to a general home inspection, an energy audit would look at the energy inefficiencies of your property. Minimum guidelines would probably be developed to determine pass or fail, and then the appropriate repairs or updates would have to be performed to bring your home up to standards.

Consider many of the homes in Pasadena, built in the early 1900’s with no insulation, original windows and probably the original knob and tube wiring running through the attic, which every home inspector will tell you not to cover with insulation.

Are you beginning to understand the increased costs you could incur when selling your home?

From Congressman John Boehner’s website:

“Home Sellers Beware. Having a hard time selling your home? Here’s one more hurdle to jump: all homes sales are conditioned upon an energy audit and a new energy rating assessment and energy labeling program for your home that’s outlined in the Democrats’ bill. And if you thought you could improve your property with a fresh coat of paint and some granite counters? Think again! Now your home will be subjected to a new energy rating assessment and energy labeling program that will penalize you for older windows, original fixtures, and dated appliances. So the Democrats’ bill would bring down the value of your home”!

Deja Vu All Over Again

It was just a little over one year ago in May 2008, when the California Assembly narrowly passed AB 2768, a similar bill that would also mandate energy audits for California home owners at point of sale. The California Association of Realtors projected it could add thousands of dollars to the cost of a home, not to mention the estimated cost of $400 for the inspection. Through the lobbying efforts of the Realtor organization the bill failed in the senate.

Additional costs and regulations. Not exactly the cure for energizing the real estate market."
http://www.up2daterealestate.com/2009/06/30/how-the-cap-trade-energy-bill-will-affect-home-sellers/

"Cap and trade is back in the news. By the end of this month, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is expected to unveil new legislation along the lines of the Waxman-Markey bill, which passed the House on June 26.

That bill contains 397 new regulations. One of them would affect almost everyone who buys or sells a home. If Waxman-Markey becomes law, homes for sale that qualify as “federally related transactions” — which is almost all of them — would be required to undergo an environmental inspection."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27448.html#ixzz0URNcRRML​

 

[Royd]

Quote:
Out of sight, out of mind, and who cares what it does to the ocean that provides most of the oxygen we breath and a large percentage of the food we eat? We'd be better off (and provide more jobs) sending it to the moon.

You mean, with the possiblity of another Challenger accident, thus spreading it into the atmosphere.....Mix the waste in concrete, then, seal it in a hardened concrete casing, and build fishing reefs out of it. Heck, divers could use them for night diving.

 

[1acrefarm]

Quote:
Wood heat is carbon neutral. All the carbon in a tree was took in in that trees relatively short lifetime. Any carbon the wood lets off being burned would also be released by decomposing.