Climate Change Bill- A Victory and an Update

On Friday of last week the House of Representatives passed a landmark climate change bill that has the potential to change the way the United States and potentially the rest of the world deals with climate change. Of course, whether the bill makes it through the senate is another matter entirely.

The legislation that passed the House would impose limits on CO2 emissions and other gasses.

This weekend Obama had this to say about the legislation:

"It will open the door to a clean energy economy and a better future for America," President Barack Obama said Saturday.

Excellent positive vagueness. I would expect nothing less from the fine orator that is our president.

If you are like me, though, you hear a lot, even in my blog posts, about the climate change bill. But that, too, is a pretty excellent positive vagueness that tells little of the story of what would actually happen if the bill were to pass all of Congress.

Here are a few of the key areas the bill would change:

1.    Raise the cost of heating, cooling and lighting your home

2.    Mandate smaller and more fuel efficient and hybrid electric cars

3.    Create more “green” jobs

     a.    solar panel installation

     b.    wind turbine repair

     c.    car batteries

     d.    Wall Street trading carbon credits

The two parties go back and forth- the Democrats touting the green jobs creation and the Republicans and other critics calling the bill a jobs killer. As usual, both are kind of right. Basically, old-style energy jobs would decline and eventually disappear, while newer, clean/renewable energy jobs would take their place. Of course, what that means for the union guys who are 43 years old with two kids isn’t really the topic of conversation yet.

4.    Higher costs for farmers

Fertilizer and electricity will become more expensive and more windmills will be built. Farms could also raise income by selling pollution credits or being part of carbon offsetting programs.

In general, energy will cost more to produce and therefore more to consume. If greenhouse gas production is taken into account for cost, the cost of any and all energy will go up. Carbon permits would become commonplace on company financial reports. Stuff will just cost more, because stuff takes energy which will cost more. This would create an incredible revolution in how people use and think about the energy in their homes. Imagine if, rather than thinking “oh, yeah, it would be nice to turn the computer off at night and the lights down during the day and not keep the TV on all the time but that’s just so much to think about!” you actually did it because you had to to make the monthly energy bill reasonable- like having a minutes plan for your cell phone.

Energy issues will affect and change building codes and house financing, thereby changing who the preferred providers for efficient and clean/ renewable product providers are for new construction contracts.

In the end, the bill would change every facet of the web that is our society, leading to changes of habit and perspective that we cannot even begin to imagine.

Well, we can, and perhaps will, begin imagining them very soon, depending on what happens in the senate.