Here are some of my problems with the new stipulations in the Cap and Tax bill.

1. The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) plan.  It makes you retrofit your house with energy efficient items before you can sell it such as a sun light reflecting roof.  There will also be air quality testing and infrared readings of your home that will need to be conducted.

2.  If you have an income up to 150% of the poverty line you are going to get a monthly check from the government to offset the costs associated with the bill.

3.  If Medicare and Social Security funds are hurt by the bill they can tap into the general fund.

4.  Numbers 2 and 3 tell me they know that this is a job killing bill and that prices of almost everything are going to increase.

5.  Not one person knows completely what is in this 1500 page monstrosity.

6.  Carbon Dioxide is plant food.

7.  We sit on several mountains of coal (literally) in this country.  It is our most abundant form of energy and we are going to kill it for the myth of global warming.  Since 2002 temperatures have been falling because the sun has been in a state of quiessence.

8.  The new CO2 tax opens the door to tax you for having a child and putting another CO2 producer on the planet.

9. The earth has been warmer than this before.  The warmer it gets the better it is for farming and therefore easier to "stamp out hunger".

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Cornell University will host a Green Jobs Forum on Thursday, June 25, 10:00 a.m. to noon.  The forum will be broadcast to Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations, located in 14 counties across New York State, via Cornell’s distance learning video conference network.  The forum is free and open to the public.  Information on the following topics and issues will be addressed:
 
Defining"green jobs"
where to find “green jobs”
information on available training programs
the future for the "green jobs” sector
Becoming a Home Performance with ENERGY STAR® contractor

General information about the Workforce Development Institute and the New York State Apollo Alliance will be presented, as well as resources available to the general public around the topic of green jobs.  Legislative initiatives and other partnerships designed to bolster the clean energy economy in New York State and elsewhere will be discussed. 
 
Representatives of NYSERDA will also provide information on training programs in place and financial incentives available to entrepreneurs and home improvement contracting firms that want to expand into the home performance field. 
 
Seating for the Green Jobs Forum is limited so if you are interested in attending please phone Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee at 585-343-3040 ext. 101 to reserve a seat.
 
This Forum is sponsored by the New York Energy $martSM program, which is funded by a System Benefits Charge (SBC) paid by electric distribution customers of Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corporation, Con Edison, NYSEG, National Grid, Orange and Rockland, and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation.  NYSERDA, is a public benefit corporation established by law in 1975, and administers SBC programs under a competitive agreement with the Public Service Commission.  The program initiatives are available to electric distribution customers of New York’s investor-owned utilities.

The smartest thing I heard from Jon Powers during his campaign was about turning Western New York into a decent place to start new, green businesses.

I thought of that when reading Thomas Friedman's column today.

But that is not the point of this column. The point is, we don’t just need a bailout. We need a buildup. We need to get back to making stuff, based on real engineering not just financial engineering. We need to get back to a world where people are able to realize the American Dream — a house with a yard — because they have built something with their hands, not because they got a “liar loan” from an underregulated bank with no money down and nothing to pay for two years. The American Dream is an aspiration, not an entitlement.

In a green economy, we would rely less on credit from foreigners “and more on creativity from Americans,” argued Van Jones, president of Green for All, and author of the forthcoming “The Green Collar Economy.” “It’s time to stop borrowing and start building. America’s No. 1 resource is not oil or mortgages. Our No. 1 resource is our people. Let’s put people back to work — retrofitting and repowering America. ... You can’t base a national economy on credit cards. But you can base it on solar panels, wind turbines, smart biofuels and a massive program to weatherize every building and home in America.”

So even if Jon Powers ain't the 26th District, why can't WNY be a leader in creating new green businesses? Does it take a congress rep to make that happen, or just visionary entrepreneurs?