Dear Editor,
Verbal engineering is the bane of our society. Let’s call it what it is – an energy use tax. I could stop here and you’d have the full story.
The logical consequence of the Cap and Trade will be to promote conservation of energy on anything with a carbon footprint; thereby, reducing carbon emissions and cooling our overheated planet. That sounds great doesn’t it? This view of cap and trade is the one we see on the news blurbs broadcasting between funeral announcements for celebrities as of late.
So, how does it work? It means I’ll be spending more on energy—ok—it’s an admiral cause, but how much more?  When is energy priced too high? What am I willing to pay for a clean environment? I will use less if it costs more, that’s true.
Cap and trade isn’t limited to the big guys. It is about anything with a carbon footprint…my car, house, the factory on the other side of town, the building I live in, the building I work in—hmmmmmmmm—technically the BBQ pit I use gives off a carbon emission, and the cow grazing in the field does, too. So what?
Washington, DC is just trying to get us to be a little more environmentally responsible. They are focusing on big stuff like manufacturing, skyscrapers, businesses, etc. They want these people to pay for cooling the planet; after all, they’re the ones who heated it, right?  None of us will shed any tears over these “big guys” paying their fair share – nope, not one of us…
Wait a second… if a business I frequent has higher energy costs, where do they get the money to pay for it?  Oh, yeah, that’s right. They get it from me—ok—if every business has higher costs… from me again, and again, and again.
I begin to use even less, travel less, shop less, and do everything less. If an American factory has to reduce its carbon footprint, and is already operating as energy efficiently as possible, how do they reduce their energy consumption? Oh yes, they close, I guess. That would reduce it just fine.
Maybe they won’t close. We all know how strong American manufacturing is in 2009. Maybe they’re not energy efficient, but they can make themselves produce less carbon dioxide. Yes, that is the goal. Who pays for that?
They’ll only close for a while, to refit perhaps, find the money somewhere, then I’ll be working again. Soon, very soon, I’ll have my old job back. I’ll be able to buy things I need again.
I was just wondering how, in the meantime, would I pay for the gas to heat my home this winter? That’s all, just wondering…a completely selfish thought…I was wondering if I can afford the flammable Chinese jumpsuit to put my baby in since the house is so much cooler now in the wintertime. They don’t make those things in America anymore.
Of course, in these parts, who needs clothes in the summer. Well, at least I have God to thank for that…oh, wait a second…I remember now. The big guys are the ones who warmed the planet. It wasn’t God at all… can’t tax God…just me…ultimately, I’m responsible for global warming. Just me…I’m paying for it now, and paying more in the future. We will all be paying more because I elected those guys. They’ve got no common sense, and they can’t be trusted. Duh!
I’m calling those no-goods in Washington, e-mailing them, asking them what the heck they are thinking of putting “me” out of work. Making me pay more tax for gas, electric, even water? Does water have carbon? www.congress.org; type in my zip code and I’ll know who to complain to…those louses! I voted for these guys.
They are trying to destroy what is left of American manufacturing and business. I’m warning everyone this axis of idiots in Washington, DC are responsible for global warming—all their hot air.
I’ve cut back in the last few years. I am consuming less energy already, and my bills have still gone up. In fact, everything is going up.
I voted for these guys and I can’t afford this Congress and all their hot air. I want them to represent “me.” How is that for change I can believe in?
That’s what I elected them to do and, instead, I find their bad choices impact my dwindling savings. They ignore me. I am irrelevant to them and their grandiose ideas. I see their party politics on both sides of the aisle and I’m sick and tired of it— closed meetings, under-table deals and cronyism.
The only time they pretend to represent the average American is in an election year; otherwise, it’s the far right or the far left that they really represent. We are all Americans. We are their Master, not the other way around, and it’s time they understand who is in charge in the United States of America.
New job title: American Patriot. (www.congress.org)  Your turn to call Congress.  Your turn to write an e-mail, go to a tea party, join the coalition, tell a friend, tell your family what these clowns are about to do with the largest tax increase in the history of modern civilization.
If you sit there and take it, you’ll be paying more and more for the already expensive energy you use. It might be a second-hand charge, a back door tax, but without exception—the sucking sound you hear is money draining out of your wallet. If you feel the temperature going up, it’s not global warming—nope—it’s because you can’t afford to run the air conditioner.
Michelle de la Torre