Metal components are used in virtually all of the world's most significant markets and innovations - think about precision medical instruments, the aerospace industry, oil and gas equipment, automotive machinery, computers, appliances and more - and each requires electricity as they are being manufactured.

If the government has its way, that energy will soon make metalworking applications more expensive and will ultimately affect costs all the way through the supply chain, down to the prices paid by consumers.

Fabricating & Metalworking editor Mike Riley has been the most outspoken opponent of the federal cap-and-trade legislation, also referred to as the Waxman-Markey Bill.

"Passage of this bill will impose the largest tax increase in the history of the world on you and me," says Riley. "Most of the people I've spoken with recently have never even heard of the Waxman-Markey bill. Under this cap-and-trade legislation, utilities and other producers of CO2 will have limits imposed on them by the honorables that they must meet by either reducing their CO2 emissions or 'buying' credits from those companies that are under those limits."

"No one disagrees with the need to reduce carbon emissions, but cap-and-trade legislation is not deterring companies from emitting CO2, they are allowing it for a price," notes Riley.

Fabricating & Metalworking recently covered remarks delivered at the 11th annual Electric Power Conference & Exhibition in Rosemont, IL, where Michael Morris, the chairman of American Electric Power in Columbus, OH, criticized the use of cap-and-trade revenues to fund health care reform instead of reinvesting in the electricity business, funding research and development into carbon capture & sequestration (CCS) and other electric power infrastructure investments.

"This is a regressive tax that is levied on business simply because they use electricity. It is essential that our industry understands how this will affect their operations," states Riley.

Riley examines this bill and its severe impact on the steel industry in a two-part series: Living in Neverland, which addresses the media's lack of interest in covering the truth about the impact of cap-and-trade; Part 1: Naked and Unashamed, explores how the bill works and affects industry.

The newly redesigned Fabricating & Metalworking magazine provides everything you need to know about all that matters in metal forming, welding (metal joining) and metal cutting (metal removal). The magazine and its four digital newsletters, Industry Watch, FM Digest, Equipment Essentials and Melting Point, deliver deep industry news coverage and solution-based technical information to 40,000 managers, engineers, operators and maintenance professionals around the world each month.

Fabricating & Metalworking are published by Cygnus Business Media, an internationally-recognized business-to-business media company. Its diverse portfolio serves 13 market categories with print and interactive products, and live events. Through its media, the company reaches more than 1.5 million print subscribers, nearly 1 million industry professionals via its Custom Marketing services group, and attracts 2 million unique visitors to its websites monthly. Cygnus Business Media provides comprehensive, integrated advertising and marketing programs for some of the world's strongest business-to-business brands.