MADISON, Wis. (October 2, 2009) – Individual members of rural electric cooperatives have signed some 17,500 postcards addressed to Wisconsin’s two U.S. Senators, asking them to take no action that will drive up the cost of electricity as the Senate debates climate legislation this fall.
Most of the Wisconsin postcards were delivered to Washington, D.C. this week, as the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) rallied members from 25 states to demonstrate their concerns about “cap-and-trade” legislation aimed at suppressing carbon dioxide emissions from electric power generation.
NRECA’s analysis indicates Heartland states—where electric-co-ops are concentrated—will end up carrying a heavier burden of energy-cost increases than East- and West-Coast states that rely more on nuclear and hydropower generation than on coal-fired power plants.
Two bills are in play. One, sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) narrowly passed the House of Representatives at the end of June. The other, by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Kerry (D-MA) was released in draft form Wednesday and awaits committee action.
Both bills would impose a cap-and-trade regime phasing in increasingly expensive allowances for power generators to emit carbon dioxide. The most apparent difference between the two is that Waxman-Markey mandates a 17 percent emissions cut by 2020, while Boxer-Kerry calls for a 20 percent cut on the same timetable.
Both bills call for an 83 percent cut in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, requiring a massive redesign of the nation’s electric generation infrastructure.
The proposals aim to halt global warming, to which carbon dioxide is said to be a contributing factor.
Worldwide temperature averages have been flat or falling slightly at least since the beginning of this decade, despite the steady growth of carbon dioxide emissions as developing nations increase generation capacity and other industrial processes.
Estimates of the additional energy costs resulting from the bills range from about $175 annually per average household if the government distributes all emission allowances free of charge, to slightly more than ten times that amount if all allowances are auctioned off, as proposed by the Obama administration.
Postcards delivered this week came from members served by 13 Wisconsin co-ops: Adams-Columbia, Barron, Central Wisconsin, Jump River, Oakdale, Oconto, Polk-Burnett, St. Croix, Taylor, and Vernon Electric Cooperatives; Dunn and Scenic Rivers Energy Cooperatives; and Pierce Pepin Cooperative Services.
Nationwide, NRECA reported a tally of more than 520,000 postcards sent to Senate offices.
Cooperative Network is a leading Wisconsin business association. It serves more than 600 member-cooperatives, owned by more than 6.3 million Wisconsin and Minnesota residents, by providing government relations, education, marketing, and technical services for a wide variety of cooperatives including farm supply, health, dairy marketing, consumer, financial, livestock marketing, telecommunications, electric, housing, insurance, worker-owned cooperatives, and more. For more information about Cooperative Network, visit www.cooperativenetwork.coop
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