June 26th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today strongly condemned the House of Representatives for approving legislation “that intentionally will drive up the costs of gasoline, oil, and coal at a time when the American people are just struggling to make ends meet.”
“Today, Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives has handed over the nation’s energy policy to a radical faction that has but one agenda: to wreck the nation’s economic standing in the world by making energy unaffordable, eliminating real jobs, and sealing away American natural resources from an economy that will be unable to grow without them,” said Wilson.
“They have opened up a Pandora’s box,” Wilson added.
The legislation, HR 2454, would force carbon-emitting industries coal, oil, gasoline, and natural gas to purchase carbon permits. The bill aims to reduce industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050.
“The fact is: the United States depends upon carbon-emitting sources of energy for electricity, transportation, home heat, and much, much more. Capping carbon emissions necessarily means restricting the available supply of these resources, thereby deliberately increasing the prices of energy,” Wilson added.
Wilson noted that supporters of the legislation “want to increase the prices of oil, gasoline, coal, and natural gas across the board, and thereby ‘incentivize’ alternatives like solar, wind, and hybrid vehicles,” Wilson explained. “It won’t work, because the alternatives are inefficient, have a lower yields, and are more expensive.”
Wilson believes that there is already upwards pressure on energy prices. “Energy prices are already primed to begin soaring again purely because of inflation caused by Congress, the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve’s respective spending, lending, borrowing, and printing binges.”
Wilson pointed to more than $12.8 trillion of bailouts committed by the federal government, the trillion-dollar “stimulus”, the proposed $3.6 trillion budget, and the CBO-projected $1.8 trillion deficit as being “highly inflationary, and when that happens, investors flee to the safety of commodities.”
“So, with the recession moving from bad to worse, unemployment poised to reach double-digits nationally, and that inflation primed to strike, Congress in the Waxman-Markey bill has set the stage to make energy ever more expensive for decades to come,” said Wilson.
The final vote in favor of the legislation of was 219 to 212.
“How will businesses function? Where will people work when they cannot even afford to turn on the lights? Who will be able to afford the fix-ups necessary for their homes to be up to new federal zoning codes?” Wilson asked, referring to portions of the bill that will require homes to be up to California’s energy standards.
“The American people’s only hope now is Harry Reid’s rubber-stamp Senate,” Wilson noted. “But hope is not a strategy. In truth, it is up to the American people, millions of whom made history today with phone calls and emails to stop this legislation dead on its tracks,” Wilson said.
Wilson called upon the American people to make their views against the legislation known to every member of the Senate. Wilson noted that similar legislation had failed in the Senate last year. “This bill was rejected last year, and should again be rejected this year, because it will destroy the economy. Period.”
Wilson also pointed to a study from APS Physics, “Climate Sensitivity Revisited,” as discrediting the justification for capping carbon emissions. “The Monckton study raises serious doubts as to the accuracy of the UN International Panel on Climate Change’s computer models. The whole hypothesis is not even be based on actual observable data that can be confirmed.”
Wilson says that the Congressional majority is lying to the American people about the reasons for the legislation. “Today, the House bowed to the altar of radical environmental extremism. ‘Man-made’ climate change is a myth and cult, and its lies are based upon faulty computer models that act as the movement’s oracles.”
“Now, the hour grows late, and it is up to the Senate to close this Pandora’s box before it reaches the President’s desk,” Wilson concluded.
Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.