As Congress considered the Waxman-Markey “cap-and-trade” bill, President Obama rallied House Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats at the White House. In making a point, he gestured to Abraham Lincoln’s portrait and said, “He had a chance to affect history. You, too, have a chance to affect history.”
How ironic.
Lincoln is remembered for liberating blacks from slavery. Cap-and-trade legislation supported by Obama, allied lawmakers and now the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People would, conversely, enslave all Americans.
Billed as a way to combat global warming, cap-and-trade legislation already passed by the House and now under consideration in the Senate is — at its most basic level — a tax that punishes those who rely on fossil fuels. That unfortunately means virtually every American.
Higher energy costs, higher unemployment and slower economic growth expected from cap and trade would reduce living standards, increase dependency and likely chain Americans to government programs.
Back in 2007, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that “most of the cost of meeting a cap on [carbon dioxide] emissions would be borne by consumers, who would face persistently higher prices for products such as electricity and gasoline *** [and] poorer households would bear a larger burden relative to their income than wealthier households would.”
The National Association of Manufacturers and the American Council for Capital Formation conducted a state-by-state analysis of the economic effect of Waxman-Markey.
According to the report, Virginia is expected to lose about 41,400 to 56,400 jobs and Maryland 30,435 to 41,450 jobs by 2030. During the same time period, electricity prices in these states would also increase approximately 53 percent and gasoline prices could climb 20 percent to 26 percent.
That makes it particularly troubling when the NAACP jumped on the cap-and-trade bandwagon. Politicians are expected to be opportunistic, but a group founded to advance blacks should not promote energy policies preferentially harming those with the least.
By contrast, Harry Alford, head of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, opposes cap and trade. Alford testified before the Senate about this, and made national news when he objected to California’s Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer’s attempt to place a premium on the NAACP’s opinion over the facts presented by the NBCC president.
A NBCC-commissioned study of cap and trade by CRA International finds new regulations would:
» Reduce national GDP roughly $350 billion below the baseline level;
» Cut net employment by 2.5 million jobs per year (even with new “green jobs”);
» Reduce earnings for the average U.S. worker by $390 per year.
Alford is not alone, as his skepticism is shared by a majority of blacks. For example, 76 percent of blacks want Congress to make economic recovery — and not climate change — its top priority. This is a finding of a nationwide poll of blacks conducted for the National Center for Public Policy Research by Wilson Research Strategies.
Among other key findings:
» 38 percent of blacks believe job losses from climate change legislation such as Waxman-Markey would be felt most strongly in the black community. Seven percent believe job losses would fall most on Hispanics and just 2 percent on whites;
» 56 percent of blacks believe economic and quality of life concerns of the black community are not considered when addressing climate issues;
» 52 percent of blacks don’t want to pay more for gasoline or electricity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Seventy-three percent are unwilling to pay more than 50 cents more for a gallon of gas, and 76 percent are unwilling to pay more than $50 more per year for electricity.
Despite NAACP boosterism, it’s clear black America wants a stable economy before any risky schemes with questionable environmental results are considered.
Cap and trade will only compound the current economic situation. The latest economic estimates from the White House predicts unemployment rates to surge upward of 10 percent this year and adding a new, punishing energy tax will only exacerbate the problem.
Keeping with the rush to pass legislation strategy, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., wants Obama to sign a cap-and-trade bill before the December United Nations climate change meeting in Copenhagen. This goal, however, becomes more elusive as the health care drags on and diminishes White House clout.
As the temperatures fall, cooler heads may yet prevail.
As slaves had no representation in early America, black Americans are now finding themselves adrift as the NAACP and Obama promote cap-and-trade regulation. Emancipation from such regulation, however, is the change all Americans can believe in and benefit from.
Deneen Borelli is a fellow for the Project 21 black leadership network.
