Dallas – The Obama Administration should focus less on putting a price on carbon this year and focus more on making energy cheaper and more accessible, according to NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett.
"Energy production instead of new taxes should be the goal of the Obama administration and Congress," Burnett said. "This economy is still in the doldrums with high unemployment and energy prices stressing the average budget. Yet the Obama Administration seems intent on reducing our access to domestic energy sources, thus cutting jobs in the vital energy industry, and imposing new taxes on businesses and consumers in the form of a costly climate change tax."
Since public opinion polls have shown repeatedly that the public is less concerned about global warming than any other issues they are asked to rate it against, the Obama Administration is attempting to graft the climate tax bill onto either a "must pass" legislation or some other popular bill, Sterling said.
"Whether or not humans are the cause of global warming, and what harm may result if they are, are questions open to debate," Burnett said. "But what is not open to debate are the very real costs the climate tax would impose on the U.S. Even worse, the harm done to American competitiveness and the public from the climate bill, will not result in any environmental benefit since developing countries are, or soon will be, producing a larger share of greenhouse gas emissions than developed countries."
The climate tax would raise energy costs for many companies, making it harder for companies to operate in the U.S, Burnett explains. On top of that, the administration has put a moratorium on new offshore oil and gas production, which will cause oil rig workers, their suppliers, and associated industries to join Gulf fishermen in the unemployment line.
"The efforts of the administration to impose a cap and trade policy will be in vain as China, the largest greenhouse gas emitter, and other large developing countries, continue to use fossil fuels to grow," Burnett said, "while Americans' lights flicker, our air conditioning cuts out and our groceries thaw as we increase our dependence on unreliable renewable energies."