In keeping with what seems to be an all-too-familiar occurrence in Washington these days, Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman defied public opinion by unveiling legislation to impose a damaging “cap and trade” scheme to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The so-called “American Power Act” is yet another 1,000-page piece of legislation that would dramatically raise energy prices, kill jobs, and stifle our economic growth with a damaging new tax on the American people. While slightly different from the House-passed cap and trade legislation that I opposed last year, this new bill still seeks an 80% reduction in emissions from today’s levels by placing binding limits on the amount of emissions from our powerplants, factories, and businesses. To put this in perspective, under this legislation, the American population in 2050 (projected to be over 400 million) would be limited to the same amount of emissions as our country had in 1875.

While I believe that we should take practical measures to achieve improvements in air quality and the environment, intentionally limiting ourselves to a 19th century standard of living is not the answer. Frankly, I don’t think it’s practical by any stretch of the imagination. The last thing our economy needs right now is yet another bureaucratic proposal that will further expand government and cost American families and businesses thousands of dollars per year. I will continue to do all I can to oppose this and any other crippling policy that will restrict economic growth and sacrifice our way of life in the name of appeasing fringe groups that rely on highly disputed and unsubstantiated claims to drive their alarmist agenda.