Energy Battle Heats Up as Dems, Administration Begin Global Warming Push

President Barack Obama went to Iowa yesterday for Earth day to tout his plan to remake the nation's energy policy by funding so-called "green energy" alternatives. The president visited the town of Newton, Iowa, home to a factory in a former Maytag plant that produces structural components for windmills. Key to Obama's energy and economic policy is an increase in jobs manufactuing and producing alternative sources of energy.

The trip comes as Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill get set to do battle over the Administration's proposed "cap and trade" system for factory emissions. The proposal would place a nationwide limit on the amount of pollution that could be put out of smokestacks. Industry would have to buy pollution permits from the federal government to emit pollutants. Individual businesses that are successful at reducing their pollution levels to below government standards could sell their unused pollution credits on a newly created market. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has promised that a bill will be passed this year.

Critics of the plan, including House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), say that cap and trade amounts to a huge new energy tax that will ultimately be borne by businesses and families across the country.

"This week, House Democrats are beginning their push for a cap-and-trade scheme that makes big promises, but amounts to little more than a national energy tax that will destroy countless jobs and raise energy prices on families and small businesses. Republicans and Democrats both support the efforts of employers and employees devoted to new, cleaner sources of energy, but cap-and-trade is not the answer. In fact, it will only make our problems worse, as proven in Europe, where cap-and-trade hurt the economy, drove up energy costs, and failed to cut carbon emissions at all."

Republicans are joined by some more moderate Democrats, who are sensitive to the argument that the Administration's and Congressional Democrats' cap-and-trade plan imposes a direct tax on consumers. Ultimately, it could be these moderate Democrats who prevent the the bill from passing the House. Even if the bill does pass, however, its prospects in the Senate are even murkier.