The House Special Committee on Energy held a very special hearing at this year's Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in downtown Anchorage last week. It was the first legislative committee meeting to be held as part of the convention.
Representatives from each of the Native corporations explained the energy situation in their region and potential solutions to high energy costs in rural Alaska. An energy plan is a top priority for the energy committee, the legislature and the Parnell administration in the next legislative session.
Right after the meeting I attended the Western States Energy and Environment Symposium in Wyoming. The two day conference brought together lawmakers and energy industry leaders from western states to plan and coordinate energy policy. The idea is to craft policies that benefit energy producing states and the nation as a whole.
Federal cap-and-trade legislation and its consequences on the nation's struggling economy dominated the meeting. Cap-and-trade proponents may have good intentions but the unintended consequences of slapping new taxes on industries that consume fossil fuels will only hurt the America's economic recovery.
Cap-and-trade legislation means the federal government sets a limit on the amount of emissions a company can put out. Federal permits are auctioned off to companies and they receive a set number of credits.
Those credits give that company the right to emit a specific amount of carbon dioxide and other pollutants. If a company needs to increase its emission allowance it has to buy credits from other companies who emit less.
The goal is cleaner air and more renewable energy but the result is a monumental increase in the cost of manufacturing and energy production. Businesses will have no choice but to do what they always do when federal policies and taxes raise the cost of doing business.
Pass that cost on to you and me.
Energy is a pillar of the economy so you can expect the price of everything from a loaf of bread to airline tickets to spike. Cap-and-trade also puts America at an economic disadvantage because industries in other countries will not have the same financial burden. By the way, those cap-and-trade permits create a steady and dependable stream of new cash for the federal government.
At the federal level the debate over cap-and-trade is being steered by energy consuming states, not energy producing and exporting states like Alaska, Wyoming and Texas. At the Wyoming meeting we decided to form a new organization of energy producing and exporting states to bring balance to the cap and trade debate in Washington D.C.
If cap-and-trade legislation is inevitable Alaska and the other energy exporting states have to act now. Cap-and-trade is already pitting coal consuming industries against other industries that burn natural gas. This is not a productive way to resolve the issue.
I will have more on the new association of energy exporting states and the Energy Stakeholders Group and its state energy policy legislation next month. Please keep in touch with your questions and comments. I love hearing from my constituents.
Charisse Millett is the state house representative from House District 30. She was born in Juneau, and has fished commercially since 1992.