I think the majority of Americans will agree that we all want energy-efficient ways to produce electricity, including using renewable resources. However, what happened in the U.S. House of Representatives a little over a week ago is nearly unforgivable.
In a narrow vote (219 -212) the House passed the climate change bill (HR2454) better known as the Waxman-Markey Bill named after Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and Edward Markey, D-Mass. Waxman, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee, ensured that constituents in his home state were covered but seemingly had little regard for the farmers in the Midwest. The cap-and-trade bill he designed and modified would work by slowly lowering the number of permits for emitting carbon dioxide available to utilities, manufacturers and other companies.
California would receive 200 percent of the credits it needs to meet the new emission standards, while Missouri would receive only 60 percent of its needed credits. Missouri utility companies would have to buy additional credits on the open market. What this means to Missouri electric consumers is that our electric bill will more than double.
Also hit hard will be Missouri’s farmers who use petroleum products in every aspect of their livelihood from the tractors, combines and other machinery to the trucks that deliver their goods. It is projected that this one bill will decrease a farmer’s average net income by 57 percent. As if they’re not having a tough enough time as it is. With almost all family farmers today, with the exception of the huge commercial operations, the husband and wife hold outside jobs to help make ends meet. They cannot support themselves by farming alone.
This bill was more than 1,200 pages long, which is a lot to digest. Forty-one Democrats voted against the bill, and seven Republicans crossed party lines and voted in favor.
Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer of Missouri’s 9th District, stated, “This bill will increase taxes, eliminate jobs or drive them offshore and raise the energy costs of those hard-working farm families trying to make ends meet.”
I congratulate Luetkemeyer who stuck to his guns and voted against this bill; other Missouri representatives who voted for their people and against the bill: Sam Graves, 6th District (this district includes most of Blue Springs and parts of Independence as well as Bucker and Levasy); Todd Akin, 2nd District; Roy Blunt, 7th District; and Jo Ann Emerson, 8th District.
According to Rural Missouri magazine, Rep. Ike Skelton – a Democrat representing the 4th district, which includes the some of Blue Springs east of Missouri 7 as well as most of Oak Grove and Grain Valley – wrote in a letter to Gascosage Electric Cooperative manager John Greenlee that the devil is in the details of the proposed bill.
“As H.R. 2454 is considered, my colleagues and I will carefully review it. For those of us from rural America, it will be critical that we look after the interests of farmers and others living in small towns. It will also be important to ensure parts of the country, like Missouri, that rely heavily on coal-fired power plants are not given the short shrift.”
Why then, Mr. Skelton, I’d like to ask, did you vote for this bill and against your Missouri farmers? What other “representatives” of Missouri voted for this bill and against their citizens? Emanuel Cleaver, 5th District (most of Independence); Russ Carnahan, 3rd District; and William Clay, 1st District.
Don’t get me wrong. I completely understand that we need to work toward more sustainable means of energy, especially renewable methods. Missouri is slow to incorporate more Green technology including wind energy, but a climate change bill needs to be equitable across the board. Coastal states should not be given advantages over Midwestern states simply because their representatives wrote the bill.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is expected to have a little more difficulty. Contact our Missouri senators and let them know that we want more Green energy in Missouri but without heavy penalties to Missouri farmers or citizens! They need to vote “no” on this bill!
Time to speak up
For a complete list of representative votes on H.R. 2454, check out:
http://www.opencongress.org/roll_call/show/5807
To contact Missouri’s senators:
Senator Kit Bond
274 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-5721
http://bond.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.ContactForm
Senator Claire McCaskill
717 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-6154
mccaskill.senate.gov/contact/
