Apparently, Farmers/Oil Refiners/Auto Firms/Utilities/Truckers All Too Strapped For Climate Bill

une 11 (Bloomberg) -- House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said he won’t support U.S. greenhouse-gas legislation backed by Democratic leaders unless changes are made to reduce its potential costs to farmers.

Lawmakers are raising questions about the measure and it’s unlikely to get much support among the 46 Democrats and Republicans on his panel, which will hold a hearing on the plan today, Peterson said.

“The more people look at this, the more problems come up,” Peterson, a Minnesota Democrat, told reporters yesterday.

Peterson’s opposition demonstrates the difficulty that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, may have in getting majority support for the measure on the House floor even with the 256-178 Democratic majority.

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=azmJaTBGxz3o

WASHINGTON -- A cap-and-trade mandate in the U.S. would impose significant costs on truckers and jeopardize their businesses, American Trucking Associations First Vice Chairman Tommy Hodges told a Congressional Committee.

The so-called American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) places disproportionate burdens on mobile sources like trucking companies, which should be addressed differently than traditional stationary under any carbon reduction regulation, explained Hodges, who also serves as Chairman of ATA’s Sustainability Task Force.

"Fleets are extremely sensitive to rapidly shifting operating costs given thin operating margins," he said. "These margins continue to be chipped away, given the numerous and unprecedented costs being imposed upon the industry to reduce emissions from trucks."

Hodges said provisions the bill which grant oil refiners 2 percent of the carbon allowances between 2014 and 2016 are "inadequate and will result in significant price increases for refined products."

EDIT

http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=21890

Critics of the House climate change bill are moving to weaken support by emphasizing that it will raise energy costs in some states more than in others.

By focusing on state-by-state disparities, opponents hope to divide Democrats based on the regions they represent.

One of the measure’s chief critics, Republican Joe Barton of Texas, said at a House panel hearing on Tuesday that the bill as written would result in a “wealth transfer” from the Southeast, which relies heavily on coal to produce electricity, to the Northwest, which uses more hydropower.

“It’s not fair,” said Barton, who also disputed the contention that humans were the principal cause of global warming.

EDIT

http://thehill.com/business--lobby/critics-climate-bill-will-hurt-some-regions-more-2009-06-09.html

but I'm drawing a blank on the name. I'm sure it'll come to me.

Cap & trade will be a tough sell in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Indiana where they produce and burn substantial amounts of coal. There is a reason Pennsylvania did not sign up for RGGI

cap (and tax) electricity for air conditiong,

but not, natural gas for home heating

> “It’s not fair,” said Barton, who also disputed the contention
> that humans were the principal cause of global warming.

:nopity: