What is the goal of climate change legislation?

Do you believe (and does science support) the claim that humans are making any kind of measure-able, threatening impact on the earth's climate as to warrant legislation?





I'm all in favor of protecting the environment and endangered species and I do see the potential harm that could possibly result if we don't. But I also don't think that heavy handed legislation is the answer.|||%26gt;Do you believe (and does science support) the claim that humans are making any kind of measure-able, threatening impact on the earth's climate as to warrant legislation?





Yes and yes. Although I don't think that climate change in its present form will act quickly enough to cause a true threat to human civilization as a whole, I do think there is enough evidence to conclude that at least a good portion of climate change is due to human activity. Besides, burning fossil fuels does more than just change the greenhouse effect. It also pumps carcinogenic chemicals into the atmosphere that make up a threat to overall human health, and of course it also uses up fossil fuels, which are a rapidly diminishing resource that isn't going to last forever...or even for more than a few decades at this rate.





%26gt;I'm all in favor of protecting the environment and endangered species and I do see the potential harm that could possibly result if we don't. But I also don't think that heavy handed legislation is the answer.





I think that if anything, the legislation is just being put in the wrong place. Rather than setting arbitrary limits on how much of specific gases a company can produce, or selling 'pollution credits', we should just put down one single imperative on the basis of economic rent. That is to say, for all the pollution that a company releases into the general environment, they have to pay the government the equivalent cost of the harm that pollution will cause (either by its effect on the public or by the cost of cleaning it up, whichever is more reasonable). And if a company wants to run its factories in other countries and then sell their products here, then they still have to pay the government the equivalent cost of cleaning up whatever of their pollution's harmful effects will enter the environment of this country. That way, the public is compensated for all the pollution pumped into their environment, and there is no loss of competition to foreign corporations.





Unfortunately, like so much else, this requires a government that ISN'T corrupt to the core to start with...|||The goal of the legislation is to transfer more jobs to India and China - which have no limits on pollution.|||The goal of climate change legislation is to destroy the United States Economy.





DTG|||The Left says it is to "save the planet" and when that looks ridiculous they say to get us off of foreign oil. Climate Change caused by humans is BS, Drill here Drill now. This bill will fund Clean Coal projects in China and plant trees in Borneo and Brazil|||The goal is to increase the power of government and to reduce the freedoms of individuals.|||It will create dependency on federal aid - especially with rural Americans, who depend on factory jobs. Since January, nearly everything that has been passed has created greater dependency on federal gov., thus growing the power in Washington.





I also believe that Conaway (R-TEX) was correct that Obama wants to stand up in front of the world in Copehagen and claim that America is making great strides in environmental change. Obama has been more concerned with his international reputation, than the livelihood of Americans.





The simple fact is, we will lose many jobs, and energy costs per household will soar if this is passed. It has not been proven an effective strategy in nations who have implemented similar plans.|||masive taxes on energy will destroy jobs and the economy





when we are all living in caves again, and growing / hunting our own food, liberals think the "climate" will improve





Somehow the sun will stop warming the earth if we pay massive taxes on energy to obama





if this passes - obama will succeed in destroying America just to please the unemployed tree hugers|||It just passed! I can't believe this. Biggest tax hike ever! Change taken straight from our pockets. Get ready for wages to go down even more.





UNBELIEVEABLE!|||I don't believe man has any real effect on our environment. This climate bill is all about getting more tax dollars in Washington.





In America we are already doing much to protect our environment but it will never be enough for the environmentalists. I really believe the environmentalists want us to be riding bikes or walking before they will be satisfied.





Check out the book "Green Hell" by: Steve Milloy.|||the goal is to destroy the us economy|||It's triage to give us enough time to figure out how to actually fix it.





I hope its not too late already.





"Even if there's just a 1 percent chance of the unimaginable coming due, act as if it is a certainty." -- The Cheney Doctrine|||It's all about money. Politicians worship the dollar, not the trees.|||I believe our climate is changing. And I believe the understanding of those changes, and whether man is the dominant factor, are not completely understood yet.





If what doomsayers say are correct, then yes this is necessary, but if they are wrong, then we are needlessly taxing energy production and making our energy economy less efficient.|||Perhaps The Great Obama will order the construction of a giant bubble to encase the earth protecting us from ourselves. If he thinks it can be done, He will convince the rest of us.|||The goal is control|||All i can say is that anything these scoundrels do involves taxes of some kind.|||The goal is to placate the environmental radicals that have a far louder voice due to their single-minded organization than the disorganized masses. The democrat controlled government has pushed legislation to address every hare-brained radical interest group in record time. It's like there's no tomorrow. And who knows at this point!


Climate change is a fact of life. And it has been for the entire 4.5 billion year history of the planet. There have been more species that went extinct before the advent of humans than after. It's a fact of life on this planet.


We have more to fear from other types of extinction events than we do from global warming. Are we going to be getting an asteroid tax? A super volcano tax? How about a Gamma Ray Burster tax?





And since when did the scientific method change? Is it now acceptable to proclaim something a fact simply by proclaiming a consensus? If you ask me, that's the definition of a theory, not a scientific fact.





This Cap and Trade bs is going to be a very expensive boondoggle. Don't they have even the vaguest idea that passing this will ruin the US economy while China and India and other developing countries laugh their heads off!!!! It's called GLOBAL warming. Not AMERICAN warming.|||I absolutely believe that humans are making an impact upon climate. No question.





We can do nothing and let nature take its course, massively disrupting life on the planet and screwing up a good part of our economy because of shifts in global temps and rising sea levels, or we can do something now to mitigate some of the damage.





Makes sense to me to mitigate it - and its pretty clear that the only legistaltoin that will do that will have to be heavy handed, since this is a heavy issue.|||If it makes the planet a cleaner place to live I'm all for it.