Higher fuel prices. Advantages to foreign energy producers. Price discrimination amongst energy producers. A lower gross domestic product.
Everything a conservative should hate about government intervention in an industry is exhibited in the Waxman-Markey energy bill that is up for debate and vote later this week in Congress.
The reality is that once again the path to good intentions by congress is paved by the sweat of your brow in higher taxes and the blood of your toil in higher prices at the pump….which results in a lower gross domestic product and a weaker economy.
“The approach taken by the Waxman-Markey bill is so fundamentally flawed that the House should reject it,” said Jack Gerard, President of the American Petroleum Institute.
While the Waxman-Markey bill hopes to enact a bill that induces climate change and reduces greenhouse gases, all they really do is stick-it to consumers.
Because of this bill, the price per gallon of gas over the next decade raises at least 77-cents and more that 74% in the next 25 years, which is the equivalent of paying $4 per gallon today, says the Heritage Foundation.
This kind of reckless approach to legislation in terms of restrictions and regulations is simply uncalled for, especially when domestic producers clearly get the short-end of the stick. To add insult to injury, within the US, those producers who do gain “free allowances” will be those older plants that already spew toxins into the environment, while new, cleaner plants gain little to no benefit. How does that help with climate change?
The bill also punishes domestic refiners by barring any domestic trade protection, which clearly gives the advantage to our foreign competitors…setting the stage for the U.S. to become more dependent on foreign imports.
And that leads us to how this might impact Virginia: Should we open the lease rights in the Outer Continental Shelf, who would take the risk given the prohibitive cost? Especially when they have such lucrative alternatives.
While there might be millions upon millions of tons of natural gas in the fields of the OCS, if our tax laws on refining and bringing the resource to market are so restrictive, who will want to extract the product and take the risk?
This idea would cost Virginia thousands of jobs and millions oif dollars in lost revenue.
I think all would agree that climate change legislation certainly is a noble and worthwhile goal of the Congress, but this bill just doesn’t take into account the pain it will inflict on the American people in terms of jobs, billions of dollars of lost revenue, and increased costs to the consumer.
Enact climate change legislation, but don’t destroy the economy in the process.
And certainly don’t rush it because you want it done before lighting-off fireworks on Independence Day.
Talk about irony.
