We are encouraging all citizens to urge U.S. senators to vote "no" on the cap-and-trade legislation - HR 2454 - that has been approved in the House of Representatives and is pending in the U.S. Senate.

The bill is supposed to reduce global warming. But there is evidence that it would have minimal effect on the climate while driving up energy costs for everyone.

If this bill is approved, prices would increase for gasoline, diesel and fertilizer.

The American Farm Bureau Federation estimates that production costs for farmers in Illinois would increase by $515 million per year by 2020. That's an additional $34.50 per acre of corn and $9.91 per acre of soybeans that we will be unable to recapture.

The Energy Information Administration reports that the bill will boost electric rates 25 percent by 2025. EIA also reports that gasoline will increase by 25 cents per gallon by 2020. This will mean higher costs for all consumers.

The goal of the bill is to decrease use of coal and other fossil fuels. But as a nation, we do not yet have the nuclear, solar, wind and other alternative energies to replace coal.

We are urging our U.S. senators to vote against the cap-and-trade legislation and instead create comprehensive energy solutions that will benefit the environment, the country and its individual citizens.

Dennis Haab, Rural Forrest

and Scott Hoeft, Rural Bloomington

The writers are, respectively, presidents of the Livingston County and McLean County farm bureaus.