Washington, DC – Thomas J. Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research (IER), issued the following statement in light of the announcement from Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who vaguely outlined their new global warming legislation earlier today:
“What was offered today was nothing more than more of the same. Bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship may make for good headlines, but the proposal outlined today is a tripartisan bad idea for the American people – paving the way for a job-killing cap-and-trade system that will increase the price of energy across the board.
“The Senators claim that their approach is a ‘market-based’ one. More government mandates, regulations and huge amounts of taxpayer subsidies to unreliable, expensive energy forms – a key component of their plan – will not put our nation on a path toward energy and economic security and is the furthest thing from ‘market-based’. This is a ‘government-mandated’ approach that creates a ‘market’ out of thin air.
“As for the nominal attempts to expand domestic offshore energy exploration, nothing has changed. Commonsense action from the Obama Administration – not Congress – is what now stands between the American people and the vast job-creating energy resources on taxpayer owned lands. The Senators should spend their time urging the Obama Administration to stop its administrative embargo against America’s domestic energy supplies.
“Unfortunately, American families facing economic hardships are strikingly absent from this debate. And they realize that this proposal – like others being considered by Congress and by the EPA – will increase their energy bills, keep more American energy off-limits and cost even more jobs.”
Note: Click here to read the Senator’s framework.
For additional information, please contact Patrick Creighton, 202-621-2947, or Laura Henderson, 202-621-2951.
#####
