Now is the time to be considering, and approving, legislation that would allow Americans to increase energy production within our own borders, and to accelerate the process of moving to clean nuclear energy. Now is the time to do something about $4.00 a gallon gasoline, not something that would cost us $6.00 a gallon gas down the road.

So the timing of the Boxer Climate Tax bill could not be worse. And the substance is just as bad.

Let’s be clear on something at the outset of this debate: The Senate supports reducing carbon emissions. Just last year, we took serious, bipartisan steps to increase fuel economy standards for cars and trucks, increase the use of renewable fuels, and expand research into advanced technologies to reduce pollution and stress on the environment.

But in everything we’ve done, we’ve kept a couple of non-negotiable principles in mind: First, any legislation that reduces carbon emissions can’t kill U.S. jobs. And second, any legislation in this area must promote innovation here at home.

This legislation fails both tests miserably. If passed, it would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy. It is, at its heart, a stealth and giant tax on virtually every aspect of industrial and consumer life. It would result in massive job losses.  And it seeks to radically alter consumer behavior, without any measurable benefit to the environment in return.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 2nd, 2008 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Politics .