Tell Congress to Oppose $2 Trillion Climate Tax!

Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) are devising legislation that would dramatically raise the prices you pay for the energy you need. By placing a cap on carbon dioxide output, their bill would force energy companies to pay through the nose for additional emissions permits. That means you would face higher bills for gasoline, utilities, and virtually every consumer product.

This plan could impose nearly $2 trillion in higher taxes on you and your family, while damaging the economy and putting more Americans out of work. If passed, this kind of legislation would be a classic case of the cure being worse than the disease.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Oppose Cap-and-Trade Tax Hike!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Carbon dioxide emissions pose less of a threat to our country than the energy tax policies now being considered by Congress. Cap-and-trade proposals, such as President Obama's blueprint and the Waxman-Markey bill, would pile a multi-trillion-dollar indirect tax onto the backs of consumers. Cap-and-trade would make energy prices unbearable and put millions more people out of work.

I strongly urge you to vote against the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and any other energy-rationing legislation.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 11, 2009


Background Information

"Cap-and-trade" is a regulatory scheme for supposedly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are thought to contribute to global warming. Its proponents avoid using the term "tax," but that is the inevitable result. The government sets a limit (a "cap") on how much CO2 can be emitted by an industry or a region or the country as a whole. Emission permits for that amount are given out or sold -- policies which in themselves have a huge potential for political favoritism and corruption. Companies that must exceed their allotted permits, or that need to get new permits, then have to buy them from other permit-holders who haven't used theirs up.

The cost of buying those permits will raise the price of what these companies produce. Since the main sources of CO2 emissions are fossil fuels, for all practical purposes we'll end up with a massive tax increase on energy from oil, gas, and coal. As a new Congressional Budget Office report notes, "By attaching a cost to CO2 emissions, a cap-and-trade program would thus lead to price increases for energy." That will affect every product whose manufacture or transportation involves fossil fuels!

Starting in 2012, President Obama plans on raising $645 billion in revenue over eight years with his cap-and-trade proposal, although a top administration official told Senate staffers that the figure could be as high as $2 trillion. It would be one of the largest tax hikes ever, imposed by politicians too dishonest to label it a tax. The Waxman-Markey bill may contain an even more massive program, though its details are still shrouded in secrecy.

Cap-and-trade advocates may claim there's no tax, but believe us -- your pocketbook will know that it's a massive tax hike!