Cap and Trade: Less Fear, More Hope

The legislation known as "Cap and Trade," along with its buzz words of "Carbon Tax" and "Carbon Credit," has been coming upon Americans on little cat feet. We've heard murmurings of the plan to cut carbon emissions for the safety of our environment since the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, but we've always had more pressing issues to discuss. Some of us don't believe in Global Warming, so to put any effort into the rectification of a problem that might not exist would seem ludicrous.

But now it's happening. Cap and Trade is quickly becoming an American reality, and like any other major change, it is frightening to those who don't know enough about its mechanics to get behind it as a policy. But it is a machine that can't and won't be stopped; it is a policy that we are all going to have to live with, and it is up to us to learn how to jump on its bandwagon for the betterment of our families, our nation, and our world.

I've heard a lot of Americans hiss and boo at the concept, and it breaks my heart. This is a policy that will single-handedly lift us out of the recession we've found ourselves in, and will allow America once again to be the catalyst of a new, profitable age. At its most basic, those who do not welcome the already-existing technology that can cap carbon emissions will be penalized, and those who do welcome those technologies will profit. If your electric company refuses to comply (which it won't, as even Ameren here in Missouri and Illinois has been adopting Green technologies in anticipation of the legislation), then it will be dismantled. It will not be able to survive. There are republicans and democrats in the Senate right now who are writing this legislation to ensure that your prices will not be gouged because of your electric company's financial penalties, and you will in fact pay less for a healthier environment. The way I see it, this nation will respond to the birth of the Green Age in one of two ways: either there will be enough of us out there with more hope than fear, and we will take the opportunity given to us to Americanize the fuel industry and guide the world to greener pastures, or there are more of us out there who live in fear before hope, and the fearful will hide from this opportunity only to be scorched by tax increases until they eventually decide to take action.

There was no stopping the Industrial Age. No stopping the Information Age. There will, therefore, be no stopping the Green Age. And Green is not just the color of trees, grass, butterflies and unicorns as we tree-huggers are slandered to worship. It is the color of cash, of profitability. It is capitalism and creationism come together: those who take the responsibility to steward the earth and protect its inhabitants, will also be those who thrive financially. Why not make money and feel good about it?

Every time we turn on a light, drive our car or cook our meals, billions of dollars leave America and are put in the hands of petrodictatorships overseas. We are homeless and broke because of it. We've ensured that "government" becomes "big-government," because we've needed somebody powerful enough to step in and re-direct a titanic nation heading for a financial iceberg. But it doesn't always have to be this way. The stimulus money that is being showered upon our states (albeit borrowed money) is right now being put toward American technologies, businesses and industry that will, in a matter of months, create jobs, generate exports, and significantly reduce our dependence on imports. We will create enough revenue not only to repay our creditors, but we will be selling to them our goods and services, once again restoring America to her "superpower" status. Imagine never needing to go beyond your own hometown for your basic needs of electricity, food, water, shelter. Imagine if not a penny of your hard-earned money were to leave your town. There would be more money in your town to buy your goods and services, more opportunity for your children to be educated and to own homes. (We rely on federal money to supplement higher education costs, remember.)

This is not a dream, a fantasy, a tease. This is the reality of what is before us, republican or democrat. Those who rage against the Green Age will still profit from it, because America will profit. And frankly, it's just a good thing to do. The Chinese ride their bicycles with face masks, because their air has become so toxic with pollutants. We are the nation who has made Michael Jackson a media freak show; we certainly don't want to have to walk our streets dressing like him. The technology that will take our stinky, nasty garbage and turn it into emission-free fuel exists, and it is sustainable, and it is American technology. As John McCain, one of the initiators of the Cap and Trade movement, has said - we are the nation who created the IPod. Why couldn't we do this? And we can! And we have! And we do, and we are right now. And I know, because I sit as Vice President for Administration for one of those American technologies - WES Technology (http://www.wesglobaleast.com/) - and I do so not just because it is profitable, and I push it not just because I want to capitalize on new legislation. It is just the right thing to do.