Shuster Rejects Democrats’ Stifling National Energy Tax

Congressman Shuster released the following statement in opposition to the Democrats’ misguided and economically perilous cap and trade legislation:

"There is a disconnect between what President Obama and congressional Democrats in Washington want and what my constituents in Pennsylvania need. The government is spending money and racking up debt at a dizzying pace. Unemployment is nearing double digits. Instead of focusing on the challenges that directly affect American families, the President and Speaker Pelosi are racing to pass a massive national energy tax that does nothing to help the environment, but would stifle our economic growth.

In order to attempt to reduce global temperatures by only two tenths of a degree by the end of the Century, the Democrats are willing to impose a massive energy tax that will force families, farmers, and drivers to pay hundreds and thousands of dollars in higher power bills, higher heating and cooling bills, higher food and goods prices and higher gas prices.

There is no escape from this tax. At home, the national energy tax will cost the average Pennsylvania family $3,100 more in annual electric bills alone and 77 cents per gallon at the pump. At work, Americans will see increased unemployment as jobs, by some estimates millions of jobs, get shipped overseas to countries like China and India because it’s just too expensive to keep them at home.

Cap and trade is poisonous to our economic vitality. Reducing global temperatures by a fraction of a degree by the end of the Century should not cost Americans jobs, opportunity and economic freedom. We need a comprehensive energy plan, not a national energy tax. Instead of penalizing energy use, I support a Republican plan for a cleaner, cheaper, safer alternative energy called the American Energy Act.”

The American Energy Act:

• House Republicans recognize that as gas prices and home utility bills rise, American families are dealt an even greater economic hardship.

• The Democrats' answer to the worst recession in decades is a national energy tax that will lead to higher energy prices and further job losses.

• The American people deserve better. The American Energy Act is an all of the above plan that will provide energy independence, more jobs here at home, and a cleaner environment.

• The American Energy Act increases our domestic supply of energy by lifting restrictions on ANWR, the Outer Continental Shelf, and oil shale in the Mountain West.

• The House Republican plan renews America's commitment to clean and emissions-free nuclear energy. The Department of Energy has stated the best way for utility companies to reduce carbon emissions is to increase their supply of nuclear energy.

For more information on Cap and Trade, please visit Congressman Shuster’s blog at www.billsblogpa09.blogspot.com.