Environmental alarmists are pushing a massive new energy tax. Through a scheme known as cap-and-trade, government will slap a huge new tax on businesses for using coal, oil and natural gas. The cost of this tax passed along in the form of higher electricity bills, more expensive gasoline and higher prices for anything that travels to market. Don’t take our word for it, listen to the president:

“Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers.” President Obama, San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2008

During an economic recession the last thing we should be doing in enacting policies that will increase costs. Instead we should be harnessing market-based measures to keep energy prices low so that it can fuel our economic recovery.

Global Warming Alarmist Policies Are Not The Answer!
Global warming alarmism is a driving force behind job-killing, economy destroying energy policies. Policies like the Waxman-Markey bill that will result in an average family of four paying $2,979 annually from 2012 through 2035.

On June 26, 2009, that bill managed to squeak through the House in the face of passionate opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. The bill now moves to the Senate will it will encounter even more fervent opposition, with your help.

How Your Representative Voted

If passed, the effects on Colorado will be dramatic:

• Job Loss: as high as 39,000 by 2011. The majority of these jobs would be lost due to decreased industrial output resulting from the higher cost of energy and pressure from overseas competitors who operate with far less regulation.
• Gas and Electricity Price Hikes: Colorado can expect a 58% increase in gasoline prices and a 90% increase in electricity rates by 2035.
• These numbers are from the Heritage Foundation and the Partnership for America’s Energy Security. Other studies show slightly different numbers, but the specific numbers are not the issue. If we take the president at his word, we know cap-and-trade means skyrocketing prices, especially for a state like Colorado that has a lot of inexpensive, reliable coal-fired electricity.
• According to an Institute for Energy Research study, 97.6% of Colorado energy comes form carbon based fuels. This is a tax on 97.6% of Colorado energy!

Green Reality…
Spain tried a green jobs program that President Obama and his allies have held up as a model for cap-and-trade. According to researchers at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, the results have been disastrous:

• Every “green job” created by government intervention destroys 2.2 real jobs in the private economy. Since 2000, Spain has spent $753,778 on each “green job.”
• Each “green” megawatt installed in Spain destroyed 5.39 jobs in other non-energy sectors of the economy. Spain would have to raise energy costs by 31% to repay the government’s generated debt as a result of their green initiative, now reaching $36 billion.
• Spain’s annual emissions of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 50%!
• Spain is not the only country suffering from a heavy climate tax. Britain's Taxpayer Alliance estimates the average family there is paying nearly $1,300 a year in taxes for a carbon-cutting program in effect only a few years.

Sources:
The Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/wm2503.cfm
http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/tst062609a.cfm

Institute for Energy Research: http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/green-jobs-resources/
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/carbon-energy-usage-by-state/

Partnership for America’s Energy Security: Waxman-Markey Impact by State.
http://www.partnershipforenergy.com/content.aspx?f=waxmanmarkeyPDFS