Pa. Impoverishment Act Could Be In Tea Party’s Sights

The Pennsylvania Legislature jumped on the big green bandwagon in 2008 and overwhelmingly passed the Pennsylvania Impoverishment Act otherwise known as Act 129. The law mandates a 3 percent reduction in the retail consumption of  electricity — 4.5 percent for peak demand — by May 31, 2013 and creates an unelected commission that is empowered to make further demands as it sees fit.

The baseline is the electric power consumed between June 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010.

The idea isn’t to cut CO2 emissions by doing things such as replacing coal plants with nuclear plants or ending traffic bottlenecks. Nor is the plan to improve our lifestyles via increased energy efficiency in which less amount of energy will do the same amount of work causing us to have a financial windfall.

What the fools we elected to lead us plan for us is to raise the cost of electricity to such an extent that we have to watch our pennies as we ration the usage. In other words, we are all going to be much poorer. Well, not all. If you are going to get an automatic $1,300 raise you really aren’t going to worry too much about the rationing.

The final wording was passed by both houses on Oct. 8, 2008 at height of Obamamania and before it was revealed that much of the global warming movement was based on a hoax.

The bill was signed into law a week later by Gov. Rendell.

Only four House members — Maher, Reichly, Hutchinson, and Metcalf — voted against it, which was one more than the Senate dissenters who were  Folmer, Eichelberger, and Rhodes.

Bill Adolph who represents Springfield in the House did not participate in the final vote although he was an aye in the House’s initial passage that happened six months earlier. Ted Erickson who represents the township in the Senate was an aye.

Tea Party groups are expected to be making repeal of Act 129 a big part of their agenda. One activist who plans on making this so is Judy Brown who grew up in Havertown but now lives in Allegheny County and who is on the Republican State Committee.

“The nickname for this bill is Pa Cap and Trade,” she said. “While we are fighting this on the federal level our Pa. Legislature already passed it and only seven republicans voted against it.”

Pa Cap and Trade is a fine name, Judy, but I still prefer Pa. Impoverishment Act.

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