From time to time my office distributes press releases and written statements on state and national issues, debate in the Senate, and legislation that I am working on. For your convenience, I post these documents on my site for your review.
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Sessions Opposition to “Tax-and-Trade”
Global Warming Scheme
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) made the following comments today in opposition to the federal cap-and-trade regulatory scheme now under debate in the Senate.
Government and industry experts predict the legislation will significantly increase the cost of energy while having little impact on global temperatures. In its place, Sessions proposes that Congress adopt policies to promote clean, American energy, such as nuclear power, clean-coal, and renewable fuels, which would increase energy supplies and stabilize prices while reducing carbon emissions.
“I have just completed a week-long energy tour of my state, and I have heard from scores of individuals who are concerned with the rapidly increasing cost of energy. Working families are paying $50, $75, or $100 more each month for fuel than they did just a year ago. My constituents clearly do not want Congress to pass a climate change law with the stated intent to increase energy costs. Rather, we should get busy now doing the things necessary to lower prices by increasing supplies of clean, American energy, increasing efficiency, and finding long-term alternatives to foreign energy, such as emissions-free nuclear power.
“The cap-and-trade legislation now pending before the Senate has a worthwhile goal, but, in my best judgment, it will not work. It is effectively a complex tax that increases the cost of energy. The Environmental Protection Agency predicts it will raise gasoline prices by $1.50 a gallon; the National Association of Manufacturers predicts the cost will be as high as an additional $5.00 a gallon. This cap-and-trade system would result in thousands of new federal regulations. It would give the government virtual control over large sectors of the U.S. economy, placing an unelected administrative board in the position of redistributing wealth and picking winners and losers in the marketplace. While there is no guarantee that the plan will decrease the amount of carbon in the air, it is certain that it will increase the number of lawsuits and lobbyists in Washington.
“It is true that we must be good stewards of the earth, and it is also true that energy is a powerful force for good in the world. It should be our goal to provide energy at the lowest cost possible, independent from foreign sources and free from harmful emissions and global warming gases. We have the capacity to do that now without a bloated regulatory scheme. We should focus our efforts on encouraging the use of clean energy, produced with technology that we can all support.”
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