High-energy rally takes on cap-and-trade bill
September 4, 2009 by Al Harris
Fervor over a proposed energy bill attracted more than 100 people, mostly seniors, to a rally at the new Westin hotel at Reynolds Crossing.
EnergyCitizens, a nationwide alliance of organizations and people seeking to stop the cap-and-trade bill from passing the U.S. Senate, organized the event.
Notably, Dominion — the area’s largest energy producer — was not present.
EnergyCitizens is funded primarily by the American Petroleum Institute and is led by a coalition of pro-business groups including the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the Virginia Petroleum Council and the state trucking and manufacturing associations.
“We’re the number one state for business. Consequently, we have perhaps the most to lose if cap-and-trade becomes law in this country, and we have to guard vigilantly against that,” said Hugh Keogh, president of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
Keogh told the audience that one of the basic tenants of economic development is providing predictability.
“This piece of legislation will cause the biggest blow to predictability as anything in my memory,” Keogh said.
EnergyCitizens is holding rallies in cities throughout the country; the first one kicked off in Houston a few weeks ago and attracted more than 3,000 people, most of whom were workers in the oil industry.
At yesterday’s event, three giant letters were displayed with Sharpies ready for gathering signatures.
The 1,000-plus page bill passed by Congress calls for a 17 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. The government will allocate 35 percent of allowances to the electric industry and after 2030 will auction of the remaining allowances. It also sets a mandate that 15 percent of electricity production is from alternative sources including solar and wind. In addition, it provides $1 billion in funding for carbon capture and storage research.
After lunch, the official program began with a music video of country music singer Trace Adkins.
Adkins sang a few bars and spoke directly to the camera, explaining that the cap-and-trade bill will ship American jobs overseas and raise gas prices. Before becoming a star, Adkins worked on an ocean oil rig for 10 years.
Speaker David Schnare, director of the Center for Environmental Stewardship at the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Pubic Policy, was next to step to the podium.
“We are stuck in the middle of a massive energy and economic crisis,” said Schnare. “America needs to be energy independent, and Virginia has the resources to be energy independent. The Waxman-Markey bill will eliminate every opportunity for that.”
Schnare, like many of the other seven speakers, said Virginia needs to develop more nuclear power and begin offshore drilling to meet its energy needs. He said the cap-and-trade bill would eliminate 65,000 jobs in Virginia over the next 10 years.
The speeches inspired explosions of applause. State Del. Chris Saxman stirred the crowd with a speech about how the legislation would endanger his family’s small bottled water business by raising costs. He received a standing ovation.
While most in the crowd were passionately on board with the group’s message, at least one attendee had received an e-mail from a friend and came not knowing the group was against cap-and-trade.
“I can’t make heads or tails of this,” said Gene Hite, a former equipment engineer for Qimonda still searching for work.
“My efforts since being laid off are to get Qimonda retooled for producing solar panels,” said Hite.
Hite, along with five other former employees, have formed the Virginia Green Jobs Coalition. He said its efforts so far have focused on meeting with economic development agencies and members of government to get them on board with his idea to repurpose the state-of-the-art facility in the East End.
He said there are hundred of former Qimonda employees who would be qualified to work for such an operation.
“They have the skill sets and aptitude to do energy efficient manufacturing,” Hite said.
Hite left shortly after he realized what the event was all about.
“This goes to show people are not in the loop with emerging legislation,” said Hite. “They are behind the curve on their information and just don’t know.”
Meanwhile, a small contingent of protesters stood on the street holding signs that read “Paid For By Big Oil” and “2 Million Clean Jobs for Energy” in front of cars as they pulled into the parking lot.
J.R. Tolbert, a spokesperson for Environment Virginia, said the new energy bill would create 44,000 clean energy jobs in Virginia, based on a University of Massachusetts study. The group is backed by the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Audubon Society, among others.
He said the new jobs will outweigh any jobs lost elsewhere in the economy.
“I’m certain what we will see is a net increase of jobs because of the creation of clean energy jobs,” Tolbert said.
Tolbert said as the rally was going on, the coalition of environmental groups was submitting 10,000 signatures to Sen. Jim Webb supporting the bill to more strictly regulate carbon emissions.
One major player was notably absent from the debate, and they are only the largest energy producer in the state: Dominion Resources.
The electric company is not opposed to the bill, and instead of fighting it is preparing for compliance.
For instance, the company is planning a wind energy product in Tazwell and Wise counties, according to its website. The company, along with BP Wind Energy, owns more than 2,500 acres of land that is set aside for the project. Slightly more than half of Dominion’s electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels; the rest is created by nuclear power, hydroelectric power, wind and biomass.
Dominion chief executive Thomas Farrell wrote a letter on June 9 to the House subcommittee that offered the bill to request changes to the way pollution allowances are allocated.
The company is building a clean-coal plant in southwest Virginia that will be one of the first in the state to attempt to capture carbon emissions.
Al Harris covers green energy for BizSense. Please send news tips to Al@richmondbizsense.com.
I’m surprised to hear that pro-business groups are protesting the carbon cap. The whole point of this legislation is to create good jobs in places like Virginia. The clean energy industry here already has 6% job growth, which is saying something during an economic downturn, and as of 2007 our state already had almost 17,000 jobs in clean energy. As this article points out, if Jim Webb and the rest of the Senate pass the carbon cap, it’s predicted that the $150 billion of new energy investment will create almost 45,000 jobs in Virginia alone. Protesting this legislation is basically like to protesting economic growth for Virginia! But maybe the oil corporations just want to keep all that money for themselves, and that’s why they’re paying Virginians to go against our own best interests…
Also, shockingly enough, Virginia’s coast has been identified as the second most vulnerable region of the United States to climate change impacts, just behind New Orleans. Do we want hurricanes along with our recession? I should think not. So let’s all of us get behind this bill, everyone from Senator Webb to the average energy consumer, because the carbon cap will ensure protection for Virginia’s environment AND economy.
Myths and Facts on climate legislation: http://www.wri.org/stories/2009/08/climate-change-legislation-myths-and-reality
Hugh Keogh thinks the bill will be the biggest blow to predictability, but I think that the biggest blow is the fact that 2/3 of our oil is imported from foreign countries with undependable politics. By letting other governments have the control over our energy prices, we can never say for sure how much energy will cost at any given time. David Schnare agrees with this, as he is quoted as having said that America needs to be energy independent. The bill is about security just as much as it is about clean energy, hence the name of the bill. Former President Bush was the first to point out that our oil imports are exacerbating our national security issues, and this bill is a good follow up. By providing incentives and funding for domestic energy production, we will ultimately see a growth in both the clean energy industry as well as in jobs – manufacturing especially.
Schnare is incorrect about the loss of jobs in Virginia as a result of this bill – according to a study done by Pew Trusts, 17,000 jobs have already been created in Virginia by almost 1500 clean energy companies, with venture capitalists investing nearly $71 million in the industry. I think Gene Hite, mentioned in this article as one of the founders of the Virginia Clean Jobs Coalition, makes a very good point about the possibilities for retooling old industry – a much more cost effective undertaking than building from scratch. There are plenty of opportunities for jobs in this sector, and his is a good example.
Dominion Energy is smart to begin jumping on board. It’s common sense to think about the clean energy bill as this: it costs LESS money to save energy than to buy it. Businesses have caught on to this already – DOW has invested $1 billion in efficiency upgrades and has already saved $9 billion since. BP has already saved $2 billion in upgrades, and United Technologies has cut their energy use by 45% in just 2 years. This is why the CBO has reported that the bill will not only pay for itself, but actually pump money back INTO the economy – because upgrading and using renewable sources actually saves money over time. For homeowners, the DOE has estimated that the bill would only cost the average individual only a dime a day – and that’s taking into account the alleged rise in costs of household goods. This is because over time, people will actually save money. If you spend a few dollars caulking, the money saved on your next energy bill could be used to invest in insulation, and the money saved from that could be invested in new windows. It really is a no-brainer, and people will learn that soon.
I thank God that I’ve spent my whole life in this state, because Virginians do what works and we don’t get caught up in anyone else’s BS. This “EnergyCitizens” group that’s at rallies astroturfing people, “most of whom were workers in the oil industry” – I’m sure there are some real Virginians there, since we’re opinionated and diverse, but it also sounds a little suspect. Gene Hite is the kind of person we need more of—he’s building and growing a clean energy company while the rest of the economy is slumping. He’s helping create whole new industries and lead us forward, instead of just stalling us in the same old ideas that are losing jobs fast.
Dominion has got the same idea as Gene Hite. Dominion’s building wind turbines because it knows that if it wants to grow as a company—if it wants its jobs to stay here in Virginia rather than get stolen by China—than the state needs to be a leader in the clean energy economy. If we don’t start the clean economy here, it’ll take root overseas instead.
The same day as this astroturf rally, Republican Sen. Frank Wagner was helping facilitate the construction of Virginian wind turbines that could provide 8,000 to 10,000 Virginia jobs. Check it out: http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_windfarm_0904sep04,0,7182547.story
Now is really the Old Dominion’s moment. I’m tired of corporate polluters and special interests having control over family budgets. Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb: why should my monthly utility bill be at the mercy of foreign regimes? Let’s take back control with clean energy that’s made in Virginia, provides jobs for Virginians, and works for Virginia in the independent way that’s the reason we love this state.
It is understandable that the American Petroleum Institute is funding rallies opposed to the cap and trade bill. If I were about to stop making obscene profits off of the average American, than I would be worried to. There are many energy efficiency measures that can be applied to vehicles at little or no cost that will dramatically increase efficiency. Why haven’t they been done? They will reduce fuel consumption for average folks without creating substantial benefits for corporations. Imagine that, better for ordinary folks (lower fuel bills) but bad for big oil. Sounds great to me! In fact, the DOE estimates that cap and trade legislation will reduce foreign fuel imports by $20 billion.
Ironically, while many of the folks at the rally mentioned here really don’t understand the danger of climate change and the need for renewable energy, many power companies do. As the article notes, Dominion Energy is already gearing up to comply with the bill. Duke Energy, one of the nation’s other largest electric utilities, publicly supports the bill. The CEO of Duke has a rather apt way of putting it. “I try to apply the grandchildren’s test.” he says. “I look at my grandchildren and ask myself, ‘Will the actions I take today create a better life for them and their children tomorrow? When they are grown, will they look back with pride on the decisions their grandfather made, to help ensure a brighter future for them and generations to come?’” While it is rare to see this type of ethical commitment applied to large businesses in the US, none of us can fail to recognize the wisdom of his words. Whether we have grandchildren or not, we all hope that someday we will have grandchildren that are proud of us. Climate change poses far too great a risk to our grandchildren to ignore.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents the energy-intensive chemical industry, agrees the climate bill must ensure that our US industry can compete in global markets. In an effort to limit the negative effects the current version of the climate bill will have on U.S. businesses and jobs, ACC is urging lawmakers to make necessary changes to the Senate version of the bill.
As a major employer in the state of Virginia and one of the largest industries in the U.S., the chemical industry and its 46,000 Virginia employees have an enormous stake in how lawmakers end up constructing climate legislation. ACC wants to work with legislators to create a climate policy that will benefit the environment while limiting the harmful effects on Virginia’s regional economy.
[...] Thursday, activists gathered in Richmond and Virginians all summer have been encouraged to call their legislators by such groups as the [...]