FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 15, 2008
Contact: Ed Frank (202) 349-5880

WASHINGTON – As millions of American taxpayers face this year’s looming tax filing deadline, the free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity today warned that families stand to take a huge hit if proposed so-called “global warming solutions” are implemented – without having any significant impact on global temperatures.

“With energy prices skyrocketing and the economy teetering on the verge of a significant recession, it’s ridiculous that Congress would even consider higher carbon taxes, higher gasoline taxes, the repeal of the home mortgage interest deduction for larger homes and all kinds of other economy- and job-killing ideas that would have almost no impact on global temperatures,” said Americans for Prosperity Policy Director Phil Kerpen. “That’s why we’re launching a nationwide Hot Air Tour next week to expose the ballooning cost of climate alarmism.”

Americans for Prosperity’s Hot Air Tour will kick off on Capitol Hill on Monday, April 21, with hundreds of grassroots activists from across America rallying against the proposed Warner-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill and other costly so-called “solutions” to global warming. The tour’s first leg will visit Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana from April 30-May 3,

An analysis commissioned by the American Council on Capital Formation and the National Association of Manufacturers projects the economic impact of the bill by 2030: 3 to 4 million fewer jobs, $4,022 to $6,752 in lower annual disposable income per household, an annual hit to GDP of between $631 billion and $669 billion, and much higher energy prices — 60 percent to 144 percent higher for gasoline and 77 percent to 129 percent higher for electricity. Meanwhile, climate models show that proposed carbon emission reductions would have only a miniscule impact on global temperature and would not be detectable against the background of natural variation.

“The average American works nearly the first four months of the year just to pay his annual tax bill, but sadly we’re going to soon consider these the good old days if all of these so-called ‘global warming solutions’ become a reality,” Kerpen said. “Fortunately, there are ways we can address this issue in ways that do not impose onerous taxes or rationing schemes on energy and that make sense regardless of whose climate predictions are right. And that’s the message we’re going to take across America on our Hot Air Tour starting next week.”

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is the nation’s premier grassroots organization committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
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