Monthly Archives: November 2009

Part 4 in a series

By Katie Kieffer

As a young professional, I’m puzzled when I hear another young businessperson make a statement that conveys the following idea:

“Stringent green practices are going to become law. We need to do what we can to make sure we are in compliance with the law before it gets here.”

Certainly climate legislation is coming down the pipeline. Yet, just because legislation is proposed and has momentum behind it doesn’t mean that it’s the best solution for national economic or climate issues. As a LEED AP, I personally believe that we should do everything we can to protect and preserve our planet. I also think that the business community needs to speak up for the interests of the economy and work with elected officials to find a fiscally responsible way to take care of the earth. Continue reading →

Part 3 in a series

By Katie Kieffer

Now we’re buying rights?

As I began discussing here and here, cap-and-trade would introduce the new concept of a “right” for corporations to emit limited amounts of CO2 – before man-made CO2 emissions have even been proven significantly harmful to the earth. It’s dangerous to give our politicians the ability to create new “rights” based on such preliminary science because the origination of rights should be reserved for:

• Rights enumerated in the U.S. Constitution
• The inalienable rights enumerated in the Declaration of Independence

Bottom line, the government does not have the power to grant U.S. citizens the “right” to emit CO2, especially when scientists just announced that CO2 may be beneficial to the environment.

Perhaps you’re willing to be taxed via cap-and-trade, pay higher prices for energy and consumer products and give the government the power to dictate your company’s CO2 emissions in exchange for its promise to protect the environment by policing CO2 emissions. Continue reading →

Part 2 in a series

By Katie Kieffer

If you were a politician and you wanted to ensure your political future, you’d need to be careful when you proposed increases in taxes during a recession. But, in order to pay for new or growing government programs, you typically need to raise taxes. So, as a smart politician, you’d only support tax hikes that would secure you votes and a pat on the back, not a pink slip from your constituents on Election Day.

Cap-and-trade is the sexiest new tax proposal in the Senate. Our country is in a recession, but we are also in the middle of a massive green movement. Today, more than ever before, individual Americans and American corporations are trying to do everything they can to either be or appear to be green. For some, being “green” is about doing the right thing. For many others, it’s about doing the right thing, marketing and being fiscally responsible by saving energy costs. For politicians, however, their interest in supporting green taxes cannot be separated from self-preservation and attracting votes. Continue reading →

Part 1 in a series

By Katie Kieffer

If you’re a young professional, you want to know, how will the current cap-and-trade bill impact you if it passes in the Senate? I’ll try to break this proposed legislation down and explain how it will impact you as a young taxpayer and a young professional so that you can decide what you think about it.

As a young person, you already know that Social Security and Medicare will likely run out in 2037 and 2017 respectively, and therefore will not be available to you. You know you need to start planning and saving now in order to have enough monetary reserves to retire in comfort and afford the additional health care you may require as you age. If you’re like me, you want to do everything you can now – while you’re young – to make sure that you will: Continue reading →