By Peter Whoriskey

September 8, 2010--The Washington Post

WINCHESTER, VA. - The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s.

The remaining 200 workers at the plant here will lose their jobs.

"Now what're we going to do?" said Toby Savolainen, 49, who like many others worked for decades at the factory, making bulbs now deemed wasteful.

During the recession, political and business leaders have held out the promise that American advances, particularly in green technology, might stem the decades-long decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. But as the lighting industry shows, even when the government pushes companies toward environmental innovations and Americans come up with them, the manufacture of the next generation technology can still end up overseas.

Throughout the state this week, public hearings have been held by the Environmental Improvement Board to discuss their cap-and-trade energy tax proposal. Steve Pearce spoke in opposition to the new tax at the hearing in Hobbs. Below are several articles from newspapers throughout the second district documenting the overwhelming public opposition to this government power grab.

Cap and Trade Unpopular Idea

By: Matthew Arco

September 01, 2010--Roswell Daily Record

Opponents of two petitions going before a state board that aim at regulating greenhouse gases, voiced their anger over the proposed adoption, Tuesday, at a public hearing in Artesia.

The State Environmental Improvement Board heard testimony from local homeowners and employees of the energy industry, who labeled the petitions as job killers and warned of a bleak future if they were enacted. The hearing drew a crowd of at least 150 about one hour after it began and disgruntled residents directed their comments to a hearing officer and a court reporter. No EIB members attended the meeting; however, they are required to read the transcripts.

By: Luis Andres Henao

August 30, 2010-- Reuters

An Argentine company opened Friday the country's first factory to make biodiesel from algae, hoping to use pond scum as a replacement for soy in making biodiesel as part of a push for renewable energy.

Argentina is the world's top exporter of soyoil, but using the edible oil to make fuel is controversial because it cuts into food supplies.

Oil extracted from algae is also seen as an attractive alternative to soyoil and other vegetable oils because it does not use land that could be used for food crops and can absorb carbon dioxide from power plants or factories.

The oil-extraction process also produces a protein-rich paste, which is edible.

"We're not competing with the food supply but generating food, at a low cost and helping the environment because algae grow fast and trap carbon dioxide," said Jorge Kaloustian, president of Oilfox S.A., the company that owns the plant northeast of Buenos Aires.

By: Darren Samuelsohn

By Marita Noon
Guest columnist
Published Friday, August 6, 2010 9:48 AM MDT

Arizona has been discouraged from following through with a state-enforced immigration law; yet New Mexico thinks it can push through its own carbon cap regulations in defiance of federal example.

Arizona enacted the immigration law out of frustration regarding the lack of federal enforcement for existing immigration laws. In New Mexico, those who believe greenhouse gases must be stopped are hoping to implement their own rules out of frustration that nothing is being done on the federal level a frustration made all too real with Harry Reid's announcement that Senate Democrats are officially abandoning their seven-year effort to pass cap and trade.

In Arizona - whether one agrees or disagrees with the legislation - there are borders that can be secured. Fences can be built, personnel can physically guard against the flow of immigrants that come into the country illegally, and the “flow” is tangible - lawbreakers can be handcuffed and taken back across the border.

By: Editor

The companies are responding in a correct way, redesign, reinvest andcorrect the problems experienced in this situation.  The loss of 100,000 jobs by the moratorium is a poor response.  We must begin to solve problems in a way that continues to produce jobs.

Thirty years ago the government decided to kill expansion in nuclear energy in response to a problem in which the nuclear plant shut down properly to avoid a meltdown. The jobs have never come back.  We cannot have a government that responds by killing jobs.  We need a government that will help alleviate poor designs and make sure American jobs survive.

An oil and natural gas industry consortium to design, build and operate an “oil spill rapid-response system” to contain oil flow in the event of a potential future underwater blowout.  You likely read about it in the papers last week:   

http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704684604575381422950478384.html and http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/business/energy-environment/22response.html.

By: Administrator

 Other Offshore Producing Nations Do Not Fall In Line With U.S. Drilling Ban

China and Russia are drilling within 50 miles of Florida

 The Administration asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to reinstate its politically driven moratorium on deepwater petroleum drilling (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704178004575351361032082760.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEFTTopStories).   However, Gulf Coast residents are saying “Stop the oil, not job creation”:  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39433.html.  Some salient points from the Politico article:

By: Administrator

 Utilities-Only Light Switch Tax Will Send More Manufacturing Jobs Overseas 

 House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman was quoted yesterday (Calif.) saying that  he would “absolutely” seek to keep greenhouse gas limits alive in a House-Senate conference if the Senate approves energy legislation this summer that omits carbon provisions. “It would be open in conference to consider because our bill has it,” Waxman told The Hill Wednesday.  (http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/106515-waxman-to-push-carbon-limits-in-conference-if-senate-falls-short).

Will those greenhouse gas limits be in the form of a utility-only carbon cap? A light switch tax?  E&E reports that this won’t likely be good for manufacturing: http://www.eenews.net/EEDaily/2010/07/02/2/ .  Following are some highlights from the story.