WASHINGTON – US. Rep. Candice Miller (MI-10) made the following statement after the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also known as Cap and Trade:
“Passage of this bill means, in President Obama’s own words, that electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket. Not only will this legislation impose an enormous new tax on American industries, forcing more businesses to outsource jobs to China and India, but it will raise the price of gas and utilities exponentially. I am at a loss to explain why, at a time when our economy is hurting, unemployment is almost at double digits, and Americans are struggling to make ends meet, the majority party in Congress and the Administration would want to pass such a piece of legislation.
“My home state of Michigan, with manufacturing jobs at its core, has an unemployment rate of over 14 percent and rising. This bill will cause that number to rise even higher, and make it much more difficult for already struggling manufacturers to comply with the leviathan of burdensome and expensive regulations that Cap and Trade will impose on them.
“If we are serious about curtailing pollution, we should focus on solutions that won’t financially harm Americans and our economy such as nuclear and wind energy, as well as opening up our ample energy resources within our borders that are currently off limits to development. Unfortunately, today’s debate on the Cap and Trade bill did not allow for any alternative amendments or ideas, such as these, because of the majority party’s desire to push the bill through as is. Hopefully the Senate will take a different path and stop this bill from becoming law. In the meantime, we must all continue to work toward solutions that will not cost Americans their jobs and further damage our economy.”
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