HB 22-14: The Red-Green New Deal (Passed)

[Elcaspar]

Is 5 months really a reasonable time to completely stop offshore drilling and fracking? Seems like that is still too soon for a complete halt.

Probably not no. There'd also need to be some sort of compensation for workers.

Maybe a year would be a more reasonable amount of time? Also agree that workers need some sort of compensation.

[Elcaspar]

I oppose this bill in its current form, and probably will in any form. It will put hard-working Atlasians out of work in search of some green pipe dream. Things do not get changed over night. We still need natural gas. Fracking it ensures that a lower carbon fuel is used for electricity and to heat homes. Would you prefer we go back to coal - because that’s what will ultimately have to happen. And prices will spike.

Bad bill. Bad idea.

Clearly our dear new Representative can't read what's in the actual bill, or what has been discussed.
It clearly states in the bill that:

The NPWA shall seek to employ twenty million workers over a ten-year period.

This would very likely include said hard-working Atlasian workers, not to mention that a potential worker's compensation might be included in the bill as Speaker Thumb21 has mentioned. So your concerns are ill-founded when it comes to this bill "putting people out of work". Not to mention the ridiculous claims that we still need to rely on coal and natural gas by 2035, because apparently that is supposedly not enough time for our supposed "Green pipe dream".

[Elcaspar]

I oppose this bill in its current form, and probably will in any form. It will put hard-working Atlasians out of work in search of some green pipe dream. Things do not get changed over night. We still need natural gas. Fracking it ensures that a lower carbon fuel is used for electricity and to heat homes. Would you prefer we go back to coal - because that’s what will ultimately have to happen. And prices will spike.

Bad bill. Bad idea.

Clearly our dear new Representative can't read what's in the actual bill, or what has been discussed.
It clearly states in the bill that:

The NPWA shall seek to employ twenty million workers over a ten-year period.

This would very likely include said hard-working Atlasian workers, not to mention that a potential worker's compensation might be included in the bill as Speaker Thumb21 has mentioned. So your concerns are ill-founded when it comes to this bill "putting people out of work". Not to mention the ridiculous claims that we still need to rely on coal and natural gas by 2035, because apparently that is supposedly not enough time for our supposed "Green pipe dream".

The fracking ban starts today or in a few months, depending on whether the amendment is adopted. That's not enough time to ramp up the socialist government jobs program created by the bill - which I also oppose. LOL Learn To Code and be forced to join a union is not a solution to people making a lot of money in their current jobs doing something that's both economically and environmentally beneficial to the country.

The Atlasian left seems to think there's no downsides to their government-mandated policies. You can't heat your house in the winter with rainbow and unicorn farts. You need to use some sort of fuel or electricity. Banning fracking will reduce the supply of natural gas. What happens when there's less supply? Prices go up. This bill will cause our senior citizens to literally freeze because they can't afford to heat their houses any more.

Motion to table this bad piece of legislation.

Objecting to the tabling motion.

I mean can agree with fracking ban being on too short notice, and so have a few others, but that is something that can fixed in the bill trough an amendment so there can made enough time for the transition. Socialist government programs? Not that i expected better arguments to be made from the right. The notion that any government action at all is socialist is quite frankly ill-founded.
State ownership and control is not necessarily socialism, if that were the case, the army, the police, the judges, and the jailers would all be considered socialist functionaries. Do you see the problem with this argument?

Forced to join a union? Hardly. It's a condition of employment, just like there are in any other workplace, so tell me how that is any different? And then you also somehow imply that  paying people equivalent to 10% above a "living wage" determined by their residency, is somehow not an adequate enough compensation for work? And please, calling fracking environmentally beneficial to our country is a joke. Increased water pollution and reliance on fossil fuels is far from environmentally beneficial.

And you don't really need that extra extraction from fracking to heat our homes in the 15 year period before fossil fuels are phased out in 2035. So we don't need that extra supply of natural gas. You act as if we aren't building new sources of energy while the supply goes down, so that fear-mongering about prices are ill-founded.

[Elcaspar]

I can agree with everything expect for the striking of Section V. Energy works better as a public good, than it does under private ownership. Looking forward to Blair's amendment if it includes some sort of public energy consortium.

[Elcaspar]

Can I object to the amendment? Section V is very important.

I second this objection.

[Elcaspar]

Nay. While i can agree with everything else, the removal of Section V is just too much for me. Energy is and always should remain a public good.

[Elcaspar]

This also needs a new sponsor since Blair is no longer in the House.

I am willing to take up the sponsorship of this bill.

[Elcaspar]

So what's happening with this bill? Has the voting period on the amendment ended?

[Elcaspar]

So what's happening with this bill? Has the voting period on the amendment ended?

Apologies, this is Peanut's responsibility. In the interests of moving forward I'll certify the vote.

Amendment fails 3-4-0-2

With no objections, Elcaspar is now the sponsor.

Thank you Mr. Speaker. For now i shall seek to reintroduce in the form Lumine left it, minus the part on Section V since that was the whole point of contention. I sincerely hope that we can work on Section V together to improve it.

The Red-Green New Deal

SENATE BILL

To address climate change in Atlasia

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled,

Section I: Title

1. This Act may be cited as the "Red-Green New Deal" or "RGND".

Section II: Resolution

1. We Recognize:

  a. The seriousness and urgency associated with climate change must be met with swift action in order to ensure the continued welfare and prosperity of all Atlasians.

  b. Those at fault must be held accountable, and the industries polluting our environment must be eliminated.

  c. We must aim for a total phase-out of fossil fuels by 2035.

  d. We can spark a green revolution in Atlasia and become a focal point in a new age of industry and technology.

Section III: Extraction

1. Offshore drilling within 25 miles of the Atlasian coastline shall be prohibited 5 months from the passage of this bill from January 1st, 2024.

2. The placing of new oil pipeline, other than for the use of repair or renovation of existing lines, is hereby prohibited.

  a. Any update, repair, or alteration to existing pipeline must comply with existing regulation and be reviewed by appropriate local and federal agencies.

Section IV: Hydraulic Fracking

1. No new leases shall be granted by any federal agency for new hydraulic fracturing operations, new pipelines, new liquefied natural gas or oil export terminals, new natural gas storage, new ethane cracker plants, new natural gas power generation plants, or other infrastructure intended to extract, transport, or burn natural gas or oil.

2. A tax of 10% shall be applied on the profits of any firm which operates any existing lease for hydraulic fracturing operations from the 1st June 2020.

 a. This tax shall increase to 15% from the 1st June 2021.

 b. This tax shall increase to 20% on the 1st June 2022[/b]

 c. Beginning on January 1, 2022, the practice of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas is prohibited within 2,500 feet of a home, school, or other inhabited structure in Atlasia.

 d. Beginning on January 1, 2024, the practice of hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas is prohibited on all onshore and offshore land in Atlasia.

Section V: Utility Ownership

1. The Department of Internal Affairs shall be instructed to create a Social Energy Fund.

  a. The Fund shall receive an amount equivalent to gaining public control over the top twenty five largest publicly traded energy companies.

    i. "Public Control" is defined as at least 51% of total shares.

  b. The Fund shall offer to voluntarily purchase up to 51% of the total shares in the companies described in IV.1.a.
 
    i. With each offer, the Department of Internal Affairs shall release a statement declaring its aim to compulsorily purchase the shares required to acquire a majority within sixteen months.

  c. The Fund shall be chartered to utilize its stake in the companies described in IV.1.a to achieve the following.

    i. Compliance with international de-carbonization objectives.
   
    ii. The transition to an energy sector led by publicly owned renewable energy companies.
 
    iii. The gradual phase-out of fossil fuel extraction.

Section VI: Public Works

1. The Department Internal Affairs shall be instructed to create a New Public Works Administration

  a. The NPWA shall develop, administrate, maintain and oversee public building projects.

  b. The NPWA shall be led by the ranking officer for the Department of Internal Affairs.

    i. Shall there be no ranking officer for the Department Internal Affairs be vacant, these duties shall fall to the President of Atlasia.

2. The ranking officer for the Department Internal Affairs may appoint a board of NPCs to assist in the development of NPWA projects.

3. NPWA projects shall include

    a. Steel and Auto Manufacturing

    b. a. Construction and Enginering

    c. b. Renewable Energy Development and Energy Efficiency Retrofitting

    d. c. Coding, Server Farms and Technological Development

    e. d. Sustainable Agriculture

    f. e. Civil Corps
 
    g. Finance and Information

    h. Statistics and Social Research

4. All NPWA projects shall provide workers with the following.

  a. Pay equivalent to 10% above a "living wage" determined by residency.

  b. Full membership in a labor union.

  c. Employment benefits delegated per project.

5. The NPWA shall seek to employ twenty million workers over a ten-year period.

6. 5. The NPWA shall operate with an annual budget of $250 100 billion.

Section VII: Effective Date

1. This act takes effect on June 1st, 2020.

[Elcaspar]

A reasonable change, the amendment is friendly.

[Elcaspar]

I have seen the questions. I will have a response out within the week.

[Elcaspar]

I will have to apologize for a delayed response to my fellow Representatives. The response will most likely be out later today.

[Elcaspar]

How exactly are fossil fuels supposed to be 'phased out?' It seems that before we begin phasing out fossil fuels, the necessary renewable energy infrastructure needs to be in place, which means that the "publicly owned renewable energy companies" and the nationalized oil and gas companies will need to be operating at the same time, yes (not to mention that this renewable energy infrastructure could not be built without some level of fossil fuel extraction)? This raises questions about how the transfer of workers from fossil fuels to renewable energy, using the NPWA as a bridge, will work, as the renewable energy companies would have already employed workers before fossil fuel extraction ceases.

Since the total phase-out of fossil-fuels is set for 2035, it seems likely that our renewable energy infrastructure will already be sufficiently developed by the time of said total phase-out. We have 15 years to gradually phase out our fossil-fuels after all, so that does indeed mean that our nationalized oil and gas companies are operating at same time during the 15 year phase-out period. It's true that we can't completely get around using fossil fuels to create our renewable energy infrastructure, but that's part of the reason that the process is a gradual one, so that we use gradually less fossil fuels as we build more of our renewable energy infrastructure.

Yankee asked this question in the other thread, but how will this affect products that are currently made using fossil fuels? (see: https://www.ranken-energy.com/index.php/products-made-from-petroleum/). Can all of these products be made using some alternative, or will we need to become entirely dependent on foreign countries to obtain these products?

During the phase-out period, we should also gradually phase-out petroleum-based products in favor of alternative materials where possible. As of right now there likely isn't an alternative for every petroleum-based product, but given time and effort it could certainly be possibility. Although just as Senator Pyro pointed out, this bill is specifically related to fossil fuel production and extraction rather than its use as a raw good. 

How many workers will be displaced by the process? During the so-called phase-out period, will workers that are no longer needed at the oil/gas plants be transitioned immediately to the NPWA? At the beginning of the phase-out, will there be enough workers to sustain NPWA projects? Will there be enough NPWA projects to cover all of the geographical areas affected by the shuttering of oil/gas plants throughout Atlasia?

Ideally there are no-one that will be displaced by the process, since fossil fuel workers will be transitioned as soon as possible to the NWPA where they will be granted a living wage job. Also since former fossil-fuel workers will be prioritized for the NWPA, it seems unlikely that anyone will be displaced . The NWPA will be sustained by other workers in beginning, as it doesn't exclusively take from the fossil fuel industry since it's a public works program, and especially since there is an opportunity  for the NWPA to be sustained by people who wish to work during COVID-19.

[Elcaspar]

Bumping this bill for the new Congress to see. I will resume sponsorship of bill unless someone else wants to challenge that.