US Congress Waxman working

Believe it or not - regardless of one's political bias - the causes behind global warming are not yet known to scientists. There are numerous suggestions that carbon emissions are to blame, but those suggestions are quickly - and quietly - withdrawn when geologic history is explored, and the heating and cooling periods in earth's history (long before the Industrial Revolution or the ascent of mankind, for that matter) are further understood. In fact, the http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=4189 tries to come to grips with this - pondering the fact that the earth has been in a progressive warming state for the past 8,000 years. 8,000 years is quite a long time. For more on the history of fairness and accuracy in reporting around the global warming topic, please see the following link. But this is the backdrop that the new activist Democratic Party leadership in both the executive and legislative branches appears to be rushing against - pushing forward a 1,000 page bill on cap and trade bill that is not fully understood and that could have devastating consequences on the energy bills the average American household would be asked to pay. "Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), the committee’s ranking member, accused the majority of ramming through legislation that neither lawmakers nor their constituents fully understand in an effort to skirt serious debate on the substance of the proposal," CNS News reported. “The majority’s motto: Pass it now! Explain it later,” Barton said, according to CNS News. “With just the barest smidgen of obfuscation, our majority colleagues can rise proudly to the challenge of global warming by moving out smartly, before a suspicious public takes notice and well ahead of any consultation with voters.” These are dangerous precedents - rushing forward with legislation that is likely scientifically and economically unsound. "Barton’s comments came after Democrats did not introduce the bill in the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, where the concerns of industrial state Democrats would have been heard in public. Instead, Democratic leaders Waxman and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) decided to work behind closed doors," reported CNS News. Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, distributed a memo on Sunday, telling members of his desire to get the bill out of committee by Thursday. This move would allow only four days to debate a 1,000-page bill. According to a May 7 Congressional Budget Office report, the cap and trade bill would mean higher energy prices and a reduction in income for 80 percent of Americans. “My goal is to conclude consideration of the legislation on Thursday, May 21,” Waxman wrote in the memo cited by CNS News.