"Cap & Trade" - National Energy Tax | Congressman Bill Posey :: Representing the 15th District of Florida

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"Cap & Trade" - National Energy Tax

Right now Congress is drafting legislation which will impose a massive tax increase on every American family and business. But you won’t file this tax with the IRS, it will be hidden in the price of everything you buy and it will be the most expensive tax placed on the American people since the income tax was imposed nearly 100 years ago (1913).

The proposed 1400-page Waxman-Markey “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax legislation will impose a massive energy tax on nearly every kilowatt of energy produced in America and these taxes will be passed on to every consumer of electricity. It does so through taxing carbon emissions (85% of American energy production is carbon based). These taxes will be imposed through a carbon emission cap placed on factories and energy producing companies; and it will require that these businesses buy carbon emission permits if they want to exceed the emissions caps. It’s estimated to increase living costs for the average American family by between $1500 and $3500 a year. Every time you turn on a light switch, fill up your gas tank, turn on your television or even buy a loaf of bread, you will pay a hidden “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax. The extra costs of meeting the government’s mandates will simply be passed on to consumers – i.e. every American.

It is estimated that the Waxman-Markey “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax bill (H.R. 2454) would cost the U.S. economy two and a half million jobs and possibly drain as much as $9 Trillion dollars out of the economy.

Early backers of the “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax plan were top officials at now defunct Enron. And who can forget the devastation that was brought on by the collapse of that mega-corporation. Enron officials saw the advantage of making money as the “middle man” and that is what would likely happen under “Cap and Trade”, with the average American consumer picking up the tab. The middle man makes his money off of consumers and adds virtually nothing to the process except higher costs.

All Americans need to know the impact of this regulatory scheme making its way through Congress. If Congress imposes this system on Americans before it educates them on how it will affect their lives, people will be angry and the damage will not be easily undone.

As the bill continues to make its way through the Congress three things have become starkly clear.

1. The “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax will cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars. Everything you buy will have a hidden tax that you must pay and which is directly attributable to the “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax.

2. The Politicians in Washington pushing this plan know full well that “Cap and Trade” is really an elaborate plan to bring more money into the Federal government -- taking hundreds of billions of additional dollars out of the weekly paychecks of millions of families in order to create and fund lavish new unaffordable government programs. (Also, H.R. 2454 takes tens of billions of your dollars and puts them in the coffers of politicians favored companies who get special carbon breaks in H.R. 2454.)

3. The net effect of this bill will be a negligible effect on the global environment since carbon emissions from the U.S. competitors in China, India and the rest of the developing world are exempt from these caps and they will continue to increase carbon emissions at dramatically faster rates. China is already the world’s #1 carbon emitter. Furthermore, “Cap and Trade” puts products made in the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage, the end result of which is to move more American jobs to China and India where there are no costly emissions caps. It’s no wonder China has essentially endorsed H.R. 2454.

Supporters admit “Cap and Trade” will be costly:

Senior Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) said during a recent Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing that “Nobody, nobody in this country realizes that cap-and-trade is a tax and it’s a great big one.” April 24, 2009 YouTube Video Link

Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) calls cap-and-trade “the most significant revenue-generating proposal of our time”– Wash. Post – April 3, 2009

Then Senator Obama explains the impact of “Cap and Trade” to the San Francisco Chronicle in January of 2008:

“When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal…under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket…even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad, because I’m capping greenhouse gasses, coal power plants, natural gas…you name it…whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retro-fit their operations.

“That will cost money…they will pass that money on to the consumers.”

More Resources:

“Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax Calculator – The Tax Foundation has created an online calculator to assist families in calculating their Energy Tax Increase.

VIDEO - “Cap and Trade” National Energy Tax Forum – Congressman Posey hosted an educational forum for constituents. Christopher Horner, a Senior Fellow with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, gave a two hour presentation on the origins of “Cap and Trade”, how it works and how it will impact families and businesses.