HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Speaker Pelosi Will Bring Job-Killing National Energy Tax to the Floor this Week

Speaker Pelosi is barreling ahead with her national energy tax by bringing the bill to the floor of the House of Representatives by the end of the week, The Hill reported this morning.  The Democrats’ energy tax will strike a blow to American families and small businesses, costing jobs and raising taxes in the midst of a deep economic recession.  House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) wrote in an op-ed in today’s Washington Examiner that: “under the guise of reducing carbon emissions, Democrats are poised to force anyone who drives a car, buys an American-made product, or flips on a light switch to pay a national energy tax.”

Even President Obama has admitted that the Democrats’ energy tax will cost the middle class jobs, when he stated in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle during the campaign that: “Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”  The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis found that under the Democrats’ national energy tax: “by 2035 gasoline prices would increase 58 percent, natural gas prices would increase 55 percent, home heating oil would increase 56 percent, and worst of all, electricity prices would jump 90 percent.”

Speaker Pelosi is trying to sell her new energy tax on the grounds that it will reduce carbon emissions - but the only thing it will reduce is the amount of jobs created here in America.

Americans need to look no further than to Europe to see the effects that implementing a national energy tax has on job creation: “According to GAO, observers have said that the first ETS [Emissions Trading Scheme] phase, which ended in 2007, did not decrease emissions, imposed high costs on both consumers and industry, and may have decreased the international competitiveness of European industries.” (Source: Republican Staff, Oversight and Government Reform Committee)  Even with their energy tax, European carbon emissions still grew by 4.9 percent from 2000 to 2006.

Liberals seem fine with promoting policies that result in an inverse relationship between job creation and protecting the environment.  Certainly, their disastrous “cap and trade” proposal would result in millions of Americans losing their jobs.  One estimate, by Heritage Foundation scholar David Kreutzer, puts the number at three million jobs lost in the manufacturing sector alone by 2029. 

House Republicans don’t buy the notion that we cannot protect the environment and create jobs here in America at the same time.  The House Republicans have introduced the American Energy Act, which will increase production of American-made energy in an environmentally-sound manner; promote new, clean and renewable sources of energy such as nuclear, clean-coal-technology, wind and solar energy; encourage greater efficiency and conservation by extending tax incentives for energy efficiency and rewarding development of greater conservation techniques and new energy sources; and, cut red-tape and reduce frivolous litigation.

If Democrats believe that the American people will support imposing a new tax on the middle class, they are sorely mistaken.  House Republicans are opposed to new taxes on job creation, and will continue to propose better solutions to the Democrats “tax, spend, and borrow” agenda.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 11:27 am and is filed under Cap and Trade, Energy, Environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “Speaker Pelosi Will Bring Job-Killing National Energy Tax to the Floor this Week”

1. How big business and enviro-charlatans benefit from Obama’s cap-and-trade energy tax « Wintery Knight Blog Says:
   June 24th, 2009 at 3:05 am

   […] Kevin Boland reports on John Boehner’s blog that the bill is up for a floor vote in the House this week. […]

2. Paulette Hussey Says:
   June 25th, 2009 at 6:33 am

   Please work deligently to defeat this terrible piece of legislation….we will be taxed out of existence!

3. Michelle Hurr Says:
   June 26th, 2009 at 6:27 pm

   You were absolutely great tonight on the House floor. I’m watching the vote now, if this gets passed, it’s not because you didn’t try….as I said you were great!
   Thank you for taking the time to read this Bill and the Amendment and telling us just what was in it. I sent an e-mail to my Congressman Tim Ryan, and I am still calling, but the lines are all busy or the phones are off the hook. Thank you Congressman Boehner.

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