Picture credit to REDOIL
Yesterday I sent off a Tweet saying: “Tired of Waxman compromising. Admiring Peterson for standing up for his constituents (ag). Wish Markey would too. #ACES” just to receive a bunch of responses along the lines of: “I don’t understand what you’re talking about” and realized maybe it’s time for a non-wonky update on why our future (might) not be as rosy as it could be.
The Waxman Markey bill (aka American Clean Energy and Security Act, Clean Energy Jobs bill, Lightswitch Tax, Clean Coal Bill etc) started out as an ambitious proposal in President Obama’s budget which called for the United States to once again find its greatness and power through an overhaul of the way we use electricity. It called for us to generate large amounts of renewable energy (i.e. energy that doesn’t run out and doesn’t harm the health of surrounding communities), to stop wasting electricity by modernizing our distribution networks and a plan to put a price on carbon and redirect revenue to help low-income Americans cope with increasing energy prices and help mitigate effects of the climate crisis throughout the world among others.
Congress may be on recess, but it’s time for us to work! Members of Congress are now home in their districts from April 6 – April 19. The final budget will be decided, once and for all, after Congress returns from recess. Conservatives in the House and Senate are claiming they want to cut vital investments in the budget to reduce the burden on our generation. We can’t let them speak for us.