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Murtha's vote bad for coal
Cap and trade basically acts as a carbon tax and imposes costs on CO2 emitters. CO2 is produced during the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. It is also exhaled by humans with every breath.
This new scheme will be devastating for the coal-mining industry and coal-fired power plants - both of which are major parts of the economy in this region.
Pennsylvania is the fourth ranking state in coal production. Greene, Washington, Armstrong, Somerset, Indiana, Clearfield, Westmoreland and Cambria counties are the leading producers of bituminous coal in the state. Notice anything about these counties? They are all part of or adjacent to Mr. Murtha's district.
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For every mining and power plant job in Pennsylvania, there are many linked jobs in equipment, trucking, engineering, etc. If this bill succeeds in eliminating the coal industry, how does Mr. Murtha intend to make up the difference? If our region's factories must close because energy becomes too expensive or too unreliable, what will take their place as employers? What will Mr. Murtha's explanation be when our electric bills double? When unleaded goes back up to $4?
As an employee in the coal and energy industry in Cambria County, I have learned that Mr. Murtha is NOT our friend in Washington. If Mr. Murtha is fortunate, the Senate will have the good sense to vote down this monstrosity, which the president is eager to sign. If this bill becomes law, he has some explaining to do.
April Hedrick
Johnstown
Murtha : 6/30/2009
He voted the correct way. Coal is an energy of the past, the vote is for the future.No more Coal!!
cih : 6/30/2009
How about answering the questions Ms. Hedrick has raised?" If this bill succeeds in eliminating the coal industry, how does Mr. Murtha intend to make up the difference? If our region's factories must close because energy becomes too expensive or too unreliable, what will take their place as employers? What will Mr. Murtha's explanation be when our electric bills double? When unleaded goes back up to $4?"
Nothing new there : 6/30/2009
The headline could have simply been: "Murtha's vote bad"...Nothing new about "scratch MY back Jack" missing the boat, er, vote...
vote bad for coal : 6/30/2009
Coal is not our friend and untill the coal companies statr being good stewards of the environment we need to pass laws that limits it's pollutants in to our environment.I understand about the creation of jobs but they acutely employed more miners years ago.Coal is not clean as we are lead to believe ask the farmer that just wants his water back, ask the community that has seen the number of cancer cases rise and what about the miner that has gotten black lung from all the years he worked in the mine .So is it to much to ask then to clean up their dirty coal to save the next generation
Electric bills : 6/30/2009
If our electric bills double, they will still be half of what a large portion of the rest of the country pays for electricity...
Murtha : 6/30/2009
As soon as they mine for coal in Johnstown, or one of his relatives own a coal company his views won't change
vote bad for coal : 6/30/2009
Where is all this electricity going to come from, if the Coal Power plants are shut down? From Wind turbines that nobody wants in their back yard? Or maybe we can erect big towers to transport it from another state, No wait nobdys wants them either. Maybe everyone can do with out electricity for a few decades until some one figure out, how to produce electricty in a clean cost effective way. Bring on the Coal for me.
Doesn't Matter : 6/30/2009
It does not matter how Congressman Murtha votes on anything. He will still be elected again and again because we the voters do not pay attention. The ratio of people talking about Farrah and/or Michael Jackson last week was probably 10,000 to 1 compared to those who even cared to know such a bill was in the House.
Coal : 6/30/2009
Perhaps we will begin thinking and developing a diverse employment base that doesn't rely so heavily on the coal industry. In other words county commissioners and state and federal reps should begin really looking creatively at liveable wage jobs other than fossil-fuel extraction.
Murtha : 6/30/2009
Murtha is an @$$. They need to wise up and vote him out !
ellipses : 7/1/2009
Exaclty what do a large portion of the rest of the country pay, on average, for their electricity? My parents average bill now is $150-$200 a month and they are in their late 70's. What will they have to do to pay their bill if it doubles? What about your parents?
Kegger : 7/1/2009
Through the south and up the eastern sea board, electric bills can easily start at 200 dollars per month and can reach into the 500-600 dollar range pretty easily. I don't know what your parents would do if their bill doubles... did they retire assuming that prices would stay the same? Did they know that their bill would go up anyway due to deregulation? My parents are dead, so they stay pretty much at room temperature without any costs...
One other thing... : 7/1/2009
You make it sound like the bills are going to double NEXT MONTH... Sean Hannity, who is not friend of Cap and Trade, says that it could cause electricity bills to double by 2025... did you expect your electric bill to be the same 16 years from now as it is today? Hell, I expect a gallon of milk to be 7 or 8 bucks by then...
kegger : 7/1/2009
what if your parents home was destroyed because of longwall mining, what is the real cost then? Please don't give me the song and dance that the coal company will compensate you. They will do whatever they have to do to keep their profits.
Coal's demise : 7/1/2009
cih, and others supporting Murtha's vote: Can we assume that you are all advocates of drilling for oil, espcially in Alaska? If not Alaska, where to drill? Or, should we assume you are advocates of resuming building nuclear power plants?
Stupid is as stupid does. : 7/1/2009
Last election I was at a poll in Canton Township and there was a man there with a baseball cap on his head. On it was written UMW supports Obama. This was after his remarks in San Francisco about bankrupting the coal industry. The stupid have inherited the Earth.
Do you really think they care? : 7/1/2009
Kegger, those who have their pie in the sky la-la mentalities don't give a dam about your parents or anyone else as long as they get theirs. Nothing new about that. And Murtha hasn't been good for our region for a long time now - but dumbed down zombies keep voting him in because they no longer know how to think for themselves. Murtha just needs to go away, along with Pelosi and some of those other America hating Globalists.
R. : 7/1/2009
I am all in favor of nuclear power.
ellipses : 7/1/2009
I don't know what part of the south you've been visiting.. but I live in Central Texas and my average "summer" elec bill is about $150., that's w/ the AC running 24/7.
Fred : 7/1/2009
What sized house are you in? For 2000 square feet in Texas, and a thermostat set between 78-80 degrees, you are going to run north of 300 dollars.
murtha vote : 7/1/2009
if coal is the energy of the past what is the profit making energy of the future?
Murtha's Cap on Jobs : 7/1/2009
(JOHNSTOWN, PA) – Ignoring the importance of the coal industry in the 12th Congressional district, incumbent Rep. John Murtha (D) voted with his Democrat party leadership in supporting the Obama Energy Bill in the late night hours Friday. The bill, also called “Cap and Trade,” would heavily tax energy derived from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.“Our local residents could see as much as a fifty percent increase in their home utility costs,” said William Russell, Republican candidate in the 12th district. “This bill is nothing more than a way for this government to take even more money from its hard-working citizens. Residents in this district are already having trouble paying their home heating and electricity bills, how can they afford to pay up to fifty percent more?Russell also pointed out that Rep. Murtha also thumbed his nose at the district’s coal industry by supporting the bill. “Pennsylvania and the 12th district sit on some of the largest coal and gas deposits in the country,” said Russell. “Passage of this bill could virtually shut down the coal industry. We should be encouraging the development and use of clean coal technology. This is just another example of how Mr. Murtha puts the support of his party ahead of the needs of his district.”Russell also noted that West Virginia’s three representatives voted against the cap and trade bill. “Voters in the 12th district have to ask themselves one simple question,” said Russell. “Why on earth would Mr. Murtha support this bill? There is only one answer, to pay back his boss, Nancy Pelosi.”
50%?? : 7/2/2009
I thought they were going to double! Anyway... I am sure there is more than ONE answer to that question, Russell...
Murtha's Vote : 7/2/2009
Where is all this electricity going to come from, if the Coal Power plants are shut down? From Wind turbines that nobody wants in their back yard? Or maybe we can erect big towers to transport it from another state, No wait nobody wants them either. Maybe everyone can do with out electricity for a few decades until some one figures out, how to produce electricty in a clean cost effective way. Bring on the Coal for me.
Reality sucks .... : 7/2/2009
The world is ending and no one can stop it, not even Obama and his cronies. Scotty, beam me up and outta here. Thanks.
Coal : 7/2/2009
Actually nuclear energy is a very clean energy. It's the waste that it generates that is so bad. But, in protecting the coal industry not one single dime has been spent on research to figure that problem out. We just keep wanting to bury hazardous waste in our land and water. Not very creative for a bunch of American's.
And don't forget.......... : 7/2/2009
As part of this bill, if you try to sell your house, a Federal Inspector will have to evaluate your house for energy efficiency before you sell it. If your house doesn't meet the yet unwritten standard, it must be repaired at YOUR COST before you are allowed to sell it. The inspection will include infrared photos to find heat leaks, indoor air quality asessments, door seals, window heat leakage and more. So, if you are a seasoned citizen wanting to sell your home to retire elswhere, forget it. The democRATS with a few select RepublicRATS have made it next to impossible for you to achieve your retirement dream. Sell and move while you can! We'll discuss job losses and increased unemployment next week.
Why don't you just... : 7/2/2009
pay 30 bucks at Lowe's and weatherize your house? Doesn't sound all that doom and gloom to me...
energy : 7/2/2009
So you don't think your home would have more monetary value being energy efficient? Isn't it called home equity?
Nuclear waste : 7/2/2009
Dump it in North Korea.
Ellipses, : 7/3/2009
You miss the point, buddy. It's called FREEDOM. It's called PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS. It's called Uncle Sam, stay out of my private affairs!
When we bought our house... : 7/3/2009
It had to be inspected... radon tests, checked for carpenter ants, asbestos... all that stuff. Am I less free because of that? I don't really feel enslaved by the government mandated radon tests...
Ellipses, : 7/3/2009
you just don't get it, man. The energy efficiency mandates we're talking here could cost THOUSANDS of dollars. We're talking windows, heating systems and God only knows what else. After all there are 1,500 pages to this bill and not one of those asses in the House had time to read it all before voting. If all of these peices of legislation that are being rammed through are so innocent and have minimal impact of the citizens, they ought to slow down and read the crap they are forcing on us!
Poor Ellipses .... : 7/4/2009
The worst of the blind, deaf, dumb and well, stupid is this .... they don't see, hear, or know .... possibly because they aren't as smart as they think they are?
Noted, Joe : 7/6/2009
I put that in my doomsday book... it's getting thick, buddy... Let's see in a few years if this one comes true :-)
John Murtha : 7/7/2009
Forget about coal. Forget about taxes. Just remember how Murta views our military troops - murderers. And the VFW supported his last run for re-election. Murtha speaks for himself - the VFW needs an explanation.
king : 7/10/2009
coal is king.....murtha is a just a peasant...but...you stupid democrats keep voting for this jerk.....when your electric bill doubles....keep giving him your vote!!!!!
