By: James McGinnis
The U.S. Clean Air and Security Act would require a 17 percent cut in carbon emissions by 2020.
Members of the Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee could vote Friday to break with its national leadership and call for environmental regulations to stop global warming.
A local chamber debate on the U.S. Clean Air and Security Act, more commonly referred to as cap and trade, drew more than 100 area residents - many of them county business owners - to the auditorium at Bucks County Technical High School late last week.
PennEnvironment advocate Nathan Willcox argued that carbon emissions are fast reaching a "tipping point" for irreversible climate change that would affect the entire world.
Ross Eisenberg, lead attorney on environment and regulatory affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said the organization doesn't dispute the science of global warming. But cap and trade legislation won't stop it, he said.
The U.S. Chamber opposes cap and trade because it says the proposed law could put American businesses at a competitive disadvantage with foreign companies that don't face such regulations. America would lower its carbon emissions, but future development in China, India and Third World countries would only offset any clean air gains made by the United States, he argued.
The U.S. Chamber has also criticized the bill for its "massive bureaucracy," with an estimated 1,500 new mandates and regulations. "So, if you're a business you could end up with double or triple regulations," Eisenberg told business owners in the crowd. "There's got to be a better way to do this."
The bill would set limits on how much greenhouse gas companies could emit into the atmosphere, and would require a 17 percent emission reduction by 2020.
Critics question whether America can secure enough new and renewal energy supplies to meet its own demands without carbon-emitting coal and natural gas. Nuclear power plants wouldn't face restrictions.
President Obama signaled support for more nuclear power plants during Tuesday's State of the Union address. The last American nuclear power plant was built in 1977, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Brandon McFadden, chairman of the Lower Bucks chamber's government relations committee, said he believes its members mostly favor cap and trade. While the legislation might be fraught with complex regulations, it's important that the United States begin to make dramatic cuts to air pollution, he said.
"They need to get something on the table and start cutting emissions," McFadden said. "Later, they can go in and fix the legislation."
John Yoder of Upper Makefield agreed with McFadden.
"It's a national security issue," he said. "What we're doing now is just using up all the resources that the planet gives us."
Garney Morris, chairman of the Bucks County Workforce Investment Program, disagreed.
"It scares me, it really does, to think about all this regulation," Morris said. "And in the future, we're only going to need more energy."
The Lower Bucks Chamber of Commerce government relations committee is scheduled to meet Friday at 8 a.m. in the organization's headquarters at 409 Hood Blvd. in Falls Township.
