With each passing day, cap and trade legislation in the United States looks more likely to become a bystander casualty of the political fight over healthcare reform. The country's voter base has become agitated, feeling that too much change is happening at once.
Democrats whose offices are at stake are taking the warning to heart, unsettling the narrow 60-member coalition. One of the most vulnerable points is Senator Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat. The New York Times:
Ms. Lincoln, a rice farmer's daughter, has already broken with her party on several important measures. While she voted for the stimulus package and the rescue of the financial system, she opposed the reauthorization of the banking infusion and the carmakers' bailout. She also opposes a Democratic initiative to help workers unionize and the House's cap-and-trade legislation to reduce industrial emissions...
Ms. Lincoln told her audiences last week that the Finance Committee would not rush the process. That, she said, was the advice she was hearing from constituents,
Lincoln, who became nationally famous recently for calling healthcare protestors "un-American", is talking about the health care bill when she says she won't rush. But energy and cap-and-trade could certainly be included in the statement; many voters with an objection to one also have concerns about the other. She also recently told Bloomberg that pairing healthcare and cap and trade is "too big of a lift".
With this weak point to attack, Republican senators should have their work cut out in getting cap and trade delayed. But it's not clear whether a wait would ultimately hurt or help the bill.
Having to hold off would look like a loss for the Obama administration, and give industries more time to lobby against strong measures. But Europe may come up with evidence of success with its own cap and trade program, and China is moving ahead with strong renewable energy programs, so international pressure could conceivably change the playing field by the time the issue comes up again.
This will be a very cold winter and that winter will freeze cap and trade. I think.
Alls I can think of is what the Japanese Prime Minster wrote before the last G8 meeting and how would it affect the USA when these countries start buying up our land. We see this congress will not stop them but help them like what is going on in Eastern Europe of course the BBC is not pointing out what has already happened to some of the other countries.
Link to the story thought you and your readers might like.
Please stay in the fight May G-D Bless you and yours Amen
And thanks for the humor
Catherine
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8218104.stm
Monday, 24 August 2009
A storm brews over food, water & power
Jeremy Cooke
You could call it the latest foreign invasion. No tanks this time, but a state-of-the-art agricultural army is on the move.
In large swathes of the country fleets of ultra-modern combine harvesters are bringing in the harvest from new mega farms.
Food security
But it is not Ukrainian money and know-how which is driving this agricultural revolution. It is foreign governments and companies
The Libyans are negotiating for land here, as are the Russians and others.
Many governments are looking to secure land overseas as a way to ensure the food supply to their country does not fail.
In this part of Ukraine it is the British, in the form of the company Landkom, who are making moves which are transforming the landscape, investing millions in machinery and infrastructure.
Your post piqued my interest. Please give us a more indepth post if you get a chance.