[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15422]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            A BETTER SOLUTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION

  (Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky. Madam Speaker, by 2035, the Heritage 
Foundation estimates that Chairman Waxman's legislation will cause a 90 
percent increase in electricity rates and a 55 percent rise in 
residential natural gas prices. Experts predict that this will result 
in substantial numbers of United States jobs going to countries like 
China and India that have not adopted a national energy tax.
  At a time when the national unemployment rate is soaring, approaching 
10 percent in the next several months, and the Kentucky unemployment 
rate is getting dangerously high, we can't afford to enact this 
legislation that will create additional hardships.
  Energy prices are a major factor in determining the cost of living 
and the cost of doing business in a particular location. The fact is 
that Kentucky is one of the lowest energy cost States in the Nation and 
depends on electricity produced from coal.
  I recently met with plant managers and business leaders in Carroll 
County, Kentucky, who reiterated that the low cost of energy in the 
Commonwealth was a major reason they chose to base their businesses in 
the county, creating many jobs.
  This energy tax will drive those businesses away or out of business, 
losing American jobs, because it is not considering the long-term 
economic impact, let alone the lack of environmental veracity. A 
familiar positive story that we hear throughout our Commonwealth is low 
energy creates jobs.

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