[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10386-10387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        RESOLUTION OF OPPOSITION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, later today, the Senate will vote on 
an issue of vital importance to every American family and business, and 
that is whether the Environmental Protection Agency should be allowed 
to impose a backdoor national energy tax on the American people.
  This vote is needed because of the administration's insistence on 
advancing its goals by any means possible, in this case by going around 
the legislative branch and imposing this massive, job-killing tax on 
Americans through an unaccountable Federal agency.
  Ironically, just last year, President Obama and EPA Administrator 
Lisa Jackson took the position that on an issue of this magnitude, 
which touches every corner of our economy, Congress, not the EPA, 
should determine how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But now that 
it is clear Congress will not pass this new national energy tax this 
year, the administration has shifted course and is now trying to get 
done through the backdoor what they have not been able to get through 
the front door.
  Like the cap-and-trade legislation they would replace, these EPA 
regulations would raise the price of everything from electricity to 
gasoline to fertilizer to food on our supermarket shelves. That is why 
groups representing farmers, builders, manufacturers, small business 
owners, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are so strongly opposed to 
these EPA regulations and so supportive of the Murkowski resolution to 
stop them.
  These groups know these backdoor moves by EPA will deal a devastating 
blow to an economy already in rough shape. And so does the President. 
He said himself that his plan would cause electricity prices for 
consumers to ``necessarily skyrocket.'' The President himself said this 
plan would cause prices for consumers to ``necessarily skyrocket.''
  At a time of nearly 10-percent unemployment, these new regulations 
would kill U.S. jobs. According to one estimate, the House cap-and-
trade bill would kill more than 2 million U.S. jobs and put American 
businesses at a disadvantage to their competitors overseas.
  Closer to home, these regulations would be especially devastating for 
States such as Kentucky and other Midwestern coal States. EPA 
regulations resulting in dramatic energy price increases would 
jeopardize the livelihoods of the 17,000 miners in our State and an 
additional 51,000 jobs that depend on coal production and the low cost 
of electricity that Kentuckians enjoy. That is why in the last few days 
alone, my office has received more than 1,000 letters, e-mails, and 
phone calls from Kentuckians opposed to this effort from EPA.
  A lot of Kentuckians work hard to ensure that our State has the 
lowest industrial electricity rate in the Nation, and that is something 
we are proud of at home.
  This bill would lead to a dramatic increase in these electricity 
rates, punishing businesses both large and small.
  But the job losses would not stop there. As I indicated, this 
backdoor energy tax would be felt on farms as well, where increased 
energy and fertilizer prices would drive up costs for farmers and 
livestock producers who do not have the ability to pass on these 
increases. This would be an especially painful blow to them, and that 
is why the Farm Bureau and many other farm groups oppose what the EPA 
is trying to do.
  There are many different views in this body on how to reduce 
greenhouse gas emissions. Some favor the Kerry- Lieberman cap-and-trade 
bill, a significant portion of which, by the way, has been pushed by 
the oil company BP. Many Members on this side of the aisle have 
proposals they support as well.

[[Page 10387]]

  One thing we should be able to agree on is that the worst possible 
outcome is for the unelected bureaucrats at the EPA to unilaterally 
impose these job-killing regulations. That is why it is my hope that 
later this afternoon we will vote to stop this blatant power grab by 
the administration and EPA and pass Senator Murkowski's legislation to 
stop this backdoor national energy tax dead in its tracks.
  This effort by the EPA would be devastating for jobs and an economy 
that needs them desperately. It is bad for the economy and bad for 
representative democracy. It should be stopped.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Alaska.

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