Supporters urge House to pass clean energy bill

HARLINGEN - Local supporters of wind turbines and renewable energy are urging the South Texas congressional delegation to support a clean energy bill set for a vote today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The bill would "set up framework for transitioning to clean energy and curbing global warming," Ayleen Perez Marty of Environment Texas said.

"This is the first time that Congress has ever voted on something like this."

On Thursday, Harlingen homeowner Chris Hamby hosted Perez Marty, wind turbine designer Alejandro Peña and turbine importer Rafael De Leon, who owns El Valle Wind Energy, at his home to urge congressmen Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, and Ruben Hinojosa, D-Mercedes, to support the America Clean Energy and Security Act today.

However, opponents said the bill's cap-and-trade restrictions could negatively affect the nation's gross domestic product in the future.

A Wall Street Journal editorial Thursday pointed to a Heritage Foundation study that stated that the bill would cap the amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally, and over the years the amount of carbon emissions permitted would be further reduced.

"As the cap is tightened and companies are stripped of initial opportunities to ‘offset' their emissions, the price of permits will skyrocket..." the WSJ editorial states. "The corporate costs of buying these expensive (carbon) permits will be passed on to the consumer."

Jose Borjon, spokesman for Ortiz, said Thursday, "At this time the congressman is inclined to vote no."

Borjon said Ortiz's office has been flooded with calls from people who are concerned about the cap-and-trade tax on the bill.

Ortiz represents a district with many low-income families, farmers and oil refineries that would be hurt by the cap-and-trade legislation, Borjon said, and there is a very "slim" chance that Ortiz would vote differently.

Teno Villarreal, communications director for Hinojosa, said Thursday that the congressman has not decided how he will vote on the bill and will listen to both sides of the issue.

A spokesperson for Cuellar was not available for comment by press time Thursday.

Passage of the bill would bring awareness to "invaluable resources" such as wind, which can produce renewable energy and lead to less dependence on foreign countries for oil, Perez Marty said.

"The bill will also provide money to state and local governments to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy," she said in a statement.

De Leon said installing a wind turbine can cost more than $11,000, but people will see a return on their investment after three years of using renewable energy.

Hamby said he received a $4,000 tax credit for investing in the wind turbine in his yard.

Hamby also said that in the two months that he's depended on energy from the wind turbine, he's saved about $200 in electricity.

He saved $60 the first month on a typical $120 electric bill, and the second month he paid nothing for the electricity he used, and actually received a credit for $12, he said.

"Bottom line is we're going to run out of coal and oil in 20 years," Hamby said.

If Americans don't change to renewable energy now, Hamby added, it would be even more costly to make the transition in the future.

The bill is also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill for its co-sponsors Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts.

According to the Heritage Foundation study of the Waxman-Markey Bill, almost 5,000 jobs would be lost in Ortiz's district in 2012 when the bill, if it becomes law, would go into effect. Another 3,600 jobs would be lost in the district between 2012 and 2035, according to the study.

Similarly, almost 3,900 jobs would be lost in Hinojosa's district in the bill's first year, the foundation said. Over the next 25 years, more than 2,800 jobs would be lost in the district, the study said.

The study also states that by 2035, the Waxman-Markey would cost a family of four $6,800 a year.