[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 113 (Friday, July 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8084-S8085]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CLIMATE CHANGE

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to speak today because I have 
tremendous concerns about the potential effects of the Waxman-Markey 
climate change bill, concerns about the destruction of jobs and 
concerns about the cost to our economy.
  The Waxman-Markey bill may create some green jobs. If it does, great. 
We need green jobs in my State. We need green jobs all across the 
country. In

[[Page S8085]]

Wyoming, we are developing our wind resources, so we need the green 
jobs, and Wyoming has world class winds. But to me, this bill also 
costs jobs. And Americans want all jobs, not just some jobs. People 
don't want to lose the jobs they have with a promise that they may get 
a green job in exchange someday down the line. Americans want all the 
jobs. They want to keep the ones they have, and they want to create 
more jobs, more opportunities. To me, the Waxman-Markey bill fails to 
do that.
  The administration says that the Waxman-Markey bill will create 
millions--millions--of new jobs. This administration also promised that 
after Congress passed the so-called ``economic stimulus package'' they 
would create or save 3\1/2\ million jobs. Since the bill's passage and 
being signed into law, unemployment has reached 9.5 percent in this 
Nation. Last month, almost half a million people lost their jobs.
  The administration's economic experts said that unemployment would 
not exceed 8 percent if the stimulus package passed. It passed, and was 
signed into law, but they were wrong. And not just by a little.
  In an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Vice President Biden 
acknowledged that administration officials were too optimistic when 
they predicted that unemployment rates would peak at 8 percent. The 
Vice President said that ``the administration and I misread the 
economy.''
  Well, is it possible, then, that the administration is misreading the 
economic predictions of millions of new jobs being created in this 
bill? The administration failed to make the grade on the $787 billion 
stimulus package, and I believe the administration is failing again by 
supporting this misguided climate change bill.
  It is a fact that the climate change legislation will cost jobs in 
the American economy. That is why there is language in the bill to 
retrain workers who lose their jobs. Why will this legislation cost 
jobs? The Waxman-Markey climate change bill is designed to make fossil 
fuel more expensive. Advocates say we must make fossil fuel more 
expensive to change the behavior of businesses and of consumers. That 
means making everything that is powered by fossil fuel more expensive. 
Fossil fuel powers your car, your home, your office; it powers the 
airplanes we fly in, the trains we ride in, trucks; things that we use 
for our own transportation but also things where we ship goods from 
farms and small businesses to the marketplace all across this country 
and even abroad.
  All these things will be made more expensive because of the climate 
change bill that passed the House. When you increase the cost of 
bringing goods and services to the marketplace, especially in a 
recession, it becomes a recipe for economic disaster. It leads to lost 
jobs and lost economic opportunities. We can't afford in this country 
to lose more jobs.
  By deciding to pass Waxman-Markey, the majority will increase the 
cost of doing business. The legislation will increase the cost for 
every small business. The legislation will force them to pay more for 
everything that uses energy. Those costs will put businesses in debt or 
even out of business. Jobs will be lost and unemployment will continue 
to climb.
  The administration talks about creating green jobs. Well, we 
certainly want those jobs, but we also want the red-white-and-blue jobs 
that have powered America for centuries. There was a Washington Post 
article on July 21 entitled ``U.S. Green Jobs Seen Taking Years of 
Planning.'' Let me emphasize the word ``years.'' The article mentions 
upfront that:

       Alternative energy jobs can provide vocations across many 
     sectors of the economy, but policy to spark them can take 
     years to develop.

  Not now, not 6 months from now, not a year from now, but years into 
the future. Promises of immediate green jobs being created across the 
country because of this Waxman-Markey bill are another misreading by 
this administration. The economic stimulus package was simply the first 
thing the President misread. Those jobs never materialized. The green 
jobs promised in Waxman-Markey may also take years to develop. However, 
the job losses that the bill creates will occur immediately.
  In an Investors Business Daily editorial on July 17 entitled 
``Following California Off a Green Cliff,'' the editor states that:

       America remains the richest country on Earth, but it might 
     profit from adopting a bit of the attitude displayed by much 
     poorer but up-and-coming economic rivals such as China and 
     India. Those nations don't take prosperity for granted. That 
     is why they aren't such good sports on global warming. They 
     prefer to get rich and then go green.

  The author goes on to say:

       The U.S. isn't so poor that it can't afford strong 
     environmental policies. But it can't afford to take its 
     prosperity for granted either.

  Let me repeat a couple of lines from those quotes: First, that 
America remains the richest country on Earth. And that last line: But 
it can't afford--that is we, the United States--to take our prosperity 
for granted. We here in Congress--the Members of this Congress--cannot 
afford to take the prosperity of this Nation for granted. If we pass 
Waxman-Markey, or a bill similar to it, that prosperity will erode 
further. We should create jobs, and we should create more wealth in 
this country. We need to keep business costs low so businesses can 
expand and create wealth for our Nation. We can do that by making 
America's energy as clean as we can, as fast as we can, without raising 
energy prices for the businesses and the families of America.
  Our end goal must be to do everything we can to keep the jobs we have 
now and also to find ways to add new green jobs. Americans want all of 
these jobs and more. We need them all.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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