Southern governors — Democrat and Republican — are speaking out against energy taxes being championed by the Obama administration. They rightly understand that low-cost energy is critical to a prosperous economy. Cap and trade would, of course, result in the opposite.
From AP, published in the Herald-Sun:
During an energy conference sponsored by the Southern Growth Policies Board, the chief executives — both Democrat and Republican — called for open bipartisan discussion of items before Congress. They included cap-and-trade proposals on carbon emissions being pushed by President Barack Obama’s administration and billions of dollars in federal taxes on energy production.
Republican Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi said those taxes would drive up the cost of gasoline, diesel fuel and natural gas, not only on consumers, but on industry.
“These policies have in common that they would all inevitably and substantially increase the cost of energy to American families and American businesses, especially manufacturing,” Barbour said.
Industries facing such costs might move overseas into nations with less stringent standards, resulting in little progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, Barbour said.
Barbour and the other governors said that while “the train is moving” toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a new national energy policy will have to include all forms of power — from traditional fossil fuels to technologies such as solar and wind power without driving up costs.
“If we don’t have reliable low-cost energy, we will no longer be a political power,” said West Virginia Gov. Joe Machin III, a Democrat.
JLF’s Daren Bakst delves into Gov. Machin’s point in this report.
