Cap and Trade – A Hidden Tax Increase that Spray Foam Insulation Can Help Offset
The Obama administration has lofty goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 83% of 2005 levels by 2050. Congress also supports these ambitious goals. If the president and the legislative body are unable to enact regulations, the EPA has said that they will take regulation into their own hands. No one can argue the importance of protecting our environment from carbon emissions; however, proposed cap and trade legislation would tax the polluters who would in turn have to pass along the burden of those taxes to the average consumer like you and me.
The cap and trade plan is essentially a carbon emissions tax that would hit electric utilities like the Southern Company that use coal as their primary energy source. Southern Company currently gets approximately 71% of its energy from coal-fired power plants. This would also affect local electric co-ops who purchase their energy from the Southern Company. If enacted the taxes would flow through to the consumer, as the utilities fight to remain profitable. Southern Company recently increased electricity prices in Alabama; and if the cap and trade legislation is enacted, consumers should expect their electricity prices to skyrocket further.
Spray foam insulation is one product that can help reduce electricity consumption and therefore indirectly decrease the burden of this potential hidden tax increase. It is a product that can be used in new construction or existing homes. There are even tax credits available to put spray foam insulation into existing homes. Products like Icynene LD-R-50 are environmentally responsible and drastically reduce electrical usage from heating and cooling.
