Cramer spoke with David Ratcliffe, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company (SO) to find out what would happen to the company if Obama’s cap-and-trade carbon initiative passes. The cap-and-trade plan is basically a carbon tax that will hurt companies like SO who use coal as a primary energy source. Southern currently gets 71% of its power from coal, so the company would likely be a target of the new plan. Ratcliffe explained that consumer’s power bills would go up under the plan during a time when the economy is already challenged. He said he would rather see Obama move slower towards this plan, so utilities have more time to switch over to newer technologies. Cramer thinks Obama’s plan could nullify his middle-class tax cuts. Ratcliffe agreed, and said the plan will offset middle-class tax cuts as energy bills go up. He said Southern is looking past the recession and cap-and-trade to meet the energy needs of America. He mentioned that America needs to expand its nuclear energy program, and adopt every technology available, to meet the rising energy demand in this country. Join the fastest growing community of small cap investors at Stockhideout.com