Dozens of business owners in the Northern Panhandle packed a conference room at the McClure Hotel in Wheeling to hear a presentation from a North Carolina law firm about cap-and-trade legislation and the economy.
The Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce hosted the workshop.
“Cap-and-trade policies won’t solve global warming or energy needs,” said Jennifer Diggins, director of government affairs for a Charlotte law firm.
“The way the bill is structured, it hammers down on the manufacturing industry and the manufacturing industry especially in WV.
"We are competing in a world market with goods coming in from countries like China, India and Brazil that have no such policy or environmental regime, so the cost of doing business here increases greatly and the ability to compete on the world market decreases greatly,” Diggins added.
Attorney Tom Mullikin said if cap-and-trade, also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill, passes the U.S. Senate, manufacturing states like North Carolina and West Virginia will see a loss of thousands of jobs and increased costs for working families.
Mulliken cited studies that estimate more than 11,000 jobs will be cut in WV by 2030 if the legislation passes.
“We represent domestic manufacturers recyclers and they are very concerned. We talked about iron and steel today which have reduced their emissions by 30 percent since 1990.”
“They are recycling and doing things to protect their host communities and facilities. They don’t think that imposing this tax on them will make them thrive and prosper,” said Mulliken.
The cap-and-trade legislation has passed in the House. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill this fall.
Under the legislation, manufacturers will have to limit carbon emissions. If they go over the required amounts, companies can buy credits on a special trading exchange.
The presentation resonated with Sam Lapp, who owns a tax service business in Wheeling.
“I’m concerned because I'm worried my clients, we won't have any people working in WV, we will lose population. We have already lost the steel mills. Every year that goes by, makes everything look bleaker.”
Diggins said a market-based approach is needed to help solve the problem.
“The United States is the Saudi Arabia of coal and to think we are going to move forward with an energy policy that doesn’t include coal is unrealistic. The government should be funding technologies that will buttress the natural resources that we already have.”
Many of the concerned business owners who attended the Chamber event said they plan to lobby lawmakers for changes in the policy.