BIOMASS CONVERSION

                                                                                                                                            Petrol   Hemp

• Can be Procured Domestically:                                                                         

• Renewable Resource:                                                                                             

• Biodegradable:                                                                                                          

• Dangerous to Handle and Store:                                                                        

• Could Provide Economic Gain to American Farmers and Industry: 

• Contributes to Global Warming:                                                                        

• Toxic Byproducts of Emission:                                                                          

• Contributes to Sulfur Pollution (acid rain):                                                   

• Procurement Pollutes Local Environment:                                                   

• Highly Toxic to Humans and Other Animals:                                                

HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 22, 2005

Introduction of the Industrial Hemp Farming Act

Pollution Solution (Part 1) explored two steps that libertarians would take to save the environment. First, libertarians would eliminate sovereign immunity so that victims of the country's greatest polluter-government--would have recourse. Second, libertarians would privatize land and beast to save endangered species, preserve our parks, protect our national forests, and improve our vast cattle ranges. In addition, libertarians would couple these powerful reforms with restitution, to prevent pollution before it starts.

Who's the greatest polluter of all? The oil companies? The chemical companies? The nuclear power plants?

If you guessed "none of the above" you'd be correct. Our government, at the federal, state, and local levels, is the single greatest polluter in the land. In addition, our government doesn't even clean up its own garbage!

In 1988, for example, the EPA demanded that the Departments of Energy and Defense clean up 17 of their weapons plants which were leaking radioactive and toxic chemicals-enough contamination to cost $100 billion dollars in clean-up costs over 50 years! The EPA was simply ignored. No bureaucrats went to jail or were sued for damages. Government departments have sovereign immunity.

• Place a cap on the level of CO2 emissions


• Sell permits to businesses that would allow them to emit CO2 in amounts equal to the cap


• Allow businesses to trade and/or sell these permits to each other -- allegedly creating a market to encourage innovations that would reduce CO2 emissions


• Use the proceeds from the sale of these permits to create a vast new research bureaucracy designed to help corporations cope with the cap

• Raise your electricity and gasoline bills


• Provide politicians with new tools to control the economy, hand out favors, and punish enemies


• Be as ineffective in doing "research" as the Energy Department has been


• Probably (if the example of Europe is a reliable guide) have little impact on the over-all level of CO2 emissions

• Fossil fuels create massive amounts of air pollution, quite apart from CO2.


• This pollution causes health problems, none of which are reflected in the price of fossil fuels.


• Fossil fuels enjoy a "free ride" in terms of pollution costs that make it hard for alternative sources of energy to compete.


• Air pollution is a form of trespass, and a case can certainly be made that dealing with such trespasses is a legitimate function of government.

• Taxing fossil fuels


• Cutting other taxes so that your overall financial burden would remain unchanged

• Eliminate the justification for a "cap and trade" boondoggle


• Make fossil fuels reflect more of their true costs


• Provide an incentive for everyone to reduce their use of fossil fuels


• Make other sources of energy cost competitive


• Limit the financial impact on you and the economy


• Help reduce air pollution, including CO2 emissions

We know that most Americans are concerned about pollution and the environment, and for those who feel this way, a carbon tax combined with tax cuts in other areas would be a better approach.

http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=93