Yesterday, the Democratic Congress passed a so called “energy bill� that raises taxes, mandates that states derive 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources, but fails to produce a single drop of new energy.

Americans are looking for Congress to produce an energy bill that makes use of the resources and technologies we have available in an effort to deliver the most affordable energy we can to those who need it most.  In order to do this, we need to unlock new supply, encourage conservation and promote the research and innovation necessary to develop new technologies.

Unfortunately, the bill passed yesterday includes none of these.  Instead, the bill imposes $21 billion of new taxes on America’s domestic energy producers, costs that are sure to be felt by American consumers.  The American people understand that this bill is bad for business and bad for American families.

This bill also includes a mandate requiring states to meet a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires all states to produce 15 percent of their electricity from renewable resources.  For citizens of Texas, this means that consumers will pay an additional $700 million in energy costs from 2010 to 2030 because, like many other southern states, Texas lacks the resources to meet this mandate.

American families are feeling the strain of college tuition, health care, and a declining housing market on top of soaring gas prices.  The last thing they need this holiday season is another payment to big government.  It is often said that “talk is cheap.�  Well my friends, in Washington, D.C. cheap talk is in gross over-supply.  We need to break from this trend and implement a real energy solution that solves the problems Americans are facing.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 7th, 2007 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Economy/Budget, Energy/Environment, Politics .