As a person who is directly involved in environmental management within my industry, I would like to challenge the notion of recent House approval on cap-and-trade on greenhouse gasses as being good for the environment. In our society today, it seems as if environmental conservation is more of a notion for political correctness than common sense.

First of all, for every study that comes out claiming that emissions are leading to global change, there is another debating its credibility. To me this has become more of a political argument than fact.

I cannot honestly claim that I know whether or not global change is occurring from emissions. This notion can be simply demonstrated by the notion that just a few short years ago, global change was referred to as global warming. Next, if global change is occurring, what makes anyone think that this is only an American issue, primarily American industry?

While our government does its best to continually restrict American production, where does it think supply will go? Probably China, India or Russia, who have very little if any environmental guidelines. Wouldn’t this seem to suggest that emissions would get worse?

Finally, it is a mistake to think that carbon credits that will have to be purchased is anything more than a very well-disguised tax that will be used to profit from. The proponents for carbon cap-and-trade are serious investors in the credits that industry will have to buy to manufacture. These credits will be bought and traded like shares in the stock market, creating profit for the already very wealthy. If one doubt’s this, Google the Kyoto Protocol (which, by the way, considers China as a “developing country,” so it is exempt from the protocol)

Meanwhile, once industry has purchased the credits, who do you think will pay for them? The consumers, as the higher production costs are passed along.

If global change is occurring from emissions, then it has to be considered a global issue and addressed as one – not as an American issue.

This type is partisan legislation will only hurt the American worker and consumer. So for everyone who thinks that environmental legislation is to save trees and polar bears, please think about it critically.

DIRK STAUFFER Fort Wayne