Joe Smith: House Urges Congress to Put a Stop to “Cap and Trade” Legislation

Cap-and-trade is a massive hidden energy tax being pushed by the President and Congress that will crush Missouri families, farmers, and businesses. In fact, the Wall Street Journal called it the “biggest tax in American history.” As energy rates rise, everyone who flips on a light switch or drives a car will be affected. This will act as a regressive tax, impacting those who spend larger portions of their incomes on energy and other necessities. If the bill passes, Cap Energy rates will rise exponentially. In fact, the Missouri Public Utility Alliance estimated that electric bills could increase by 82% by 2030— they stress that this is an optimistic estimate. Estimates vary, but one thing is clear: Cap and Trade will cost Missouri thousands of jobs and raise electricity rates on the average family hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

President Obama admitted that the legislation would cause electricity rates to “skyrocket.” ("When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, you know, under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket." Then Sen. Barack Obama, in an interview with San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board, 1/17/08)

By supporting the cap-and-trade energy tax, Democrats have directly attacked Missouri’s two largest industries—agriculture and tourism—along with every business in the state. One version of the bill (H.R. 2454 in 2009) would have established a national building code for commercial and residential buildings, requiring a 30 percent reduction in energy use immediately after passage and an additional 50 percent reduction in energy use by 2014—meaning that bureaucrats in Washington will tell you how to build your house.

Republicans in the Missouri House of Representatives recently took a stand against Cap and Trade, sending a clear message to President Obama and Congress. House Concurrent Resolution 46, sponsored by Representative Doug Funderburk, passed out of the House and was sent to the Senate in late March. HCR 46 opposes the Cap and Trade bill – urging Congress to stop their progress on the legislation and urges the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to put an end to the pressure they put on Congress and the President. We are also asking that the EPA rescind the recent decision made regarding the formal endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, seeing as the evidence was deemed to be flawed by the scientific community. It is imperative that we allow proven scientific measures and technological advances to help guide us in our environmental decisions. Direction to the federal government from the EPA should not be the sole source – especially when they try to control legislative objectives coming out of Congress that have harmful effects on our state and our citizens.

Just like the auto bailouts, the so-called stimulus bill, and the proposed government takeover of health care, the government is using ‘global warming’ as an excuse to assert more control over private business, industry, and on families – and in the Missouri House of Representatives, we won’t stand for it.