Contacts:

Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797

David Lungren David_Lungren@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-5642

INHOFE JOINS UPTON, INTRODUCES ENERGY TAX PREVENTION ACT

Bill Has 42 Senate Cosponsors; Democrats Support in the House

Link to S. 482, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011

Link to Fact Sheet on the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011

Washington, D.C.-Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, introduced today S. 482, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011.  The bill stops the Obama EPA's back-door cap-and-trade regulations from taking effect, and thereby:

 - Protects jobs in America's manufacturing sector;

 - Protects consumers from higher energy costs;

 - Puts Congress in charge of the nation's climate change policies; and

 - Ensures that the public health provisions of the Clean Air Act are preserved. 

No More Back-Door Energy Taxes

"As the price of gasoline nears $4 a gallon, consumers can't afford to pay for the Obama EPA's back-door cap-and-trade regulations, which will inevitably mean higher prices for gasoline and electricity," Sen. Inhofe said.  "The Energy Tax Prevention Act protects consumers and their budgets." 

No Two-Year Delay

"The Energy Tax Prevention Act stops cap-and-trade regulations from taking effect-once and for all," Inhofe continued.  "A two-year delay won't help our economy grow or help those searching for work.  It does nothing to alleviate the uncertainty plaguing businesses all across America.  Simply put, EPA's cap-and-trade regime is bad policy that must be stopped."

Takes Power Away from Unelected Bureaucrats

"The Energy Tax Prevention Act also imposes accountability.  It takes power away from unelected bureaucrats and puts it where it belongs: in Congress, where the people can and should decide the nation's climate change policy."

Stops Distortion of Nation's Clean Air Law

The Energy Tax Prevention Act leaves all of the essential provisions of the Clean Air Act intact, ensuring that Americans will be protected from pollution that has direct public health impacts.  It also prevents EPA from twisting the Clean Air Act into a bureaucratic obstacle to growth and expansion.  "I recognize the tremendous strides businesses and communities have made in reducing air pollution, and I stand ready to modernize the Clean Air Act to make even greater strides in improving public health.  But imposing energy taxes through EPA's cap-and-trade regulations and blocking expansion won't make Americans healthier-it will only mean fewer jobs, a higher cost of living, and less growth and innovation."

Along with 6 Republican and 3 Democratic cosponsors (Rep. Dan Boren, Okla., Rep. Nick Rahall, W. Va., and Rep. Collin Peterson, Minn.), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) today also introduced the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011 in the House. 

Quotes from cosponsors:

Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.): "I strongly support Senator Inhofe's efforts to block some of this Administration's most overreaching Washington climate change rules.  I look forward to working with him on this, and on addressing the other job crushing climate change rules across all agencies in the near future." 

Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho): "This act presents an opportunity for Congress to reassert its Constitutional responsibility to address the environmental and energy concerns of the 21st Century.  The Environmental Protections Agency's (EPA) top-down, regulatory approach is not the answer.  The best way to convey that message is to ensure that this legislation makes its way to the President's desk.  If the President is truly committed to identifying and overturning burdensome, unnecessary regulations, this is where he should start."

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.):  "America wants a low-cost clean-energy policy that keeps and grows jobs here, not a comprehensive, high-cost clean-energy policy that sends jobs overseas looking for cheap electricity, which Congress already rejected and a group of unelected Washington bureaucrats now seeks to impose."

Senator John Boozman (R-Ark.): "Congress has turned back attempts to tax energy through a cap-and-tax scheme. Now EPA is trying to impose misguided regulations on its own. Manufacturers, families and small businesses cannot continue to operate under the uncertainty of energy costs created by this administration. This legislation will protect jobs and ensure that EPA refrains from burdensome rules that double the energy bills of all Americans"

Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska): "The EPA has created a very real burden through its greenhouse gas regulations that's holding back investment and job creation. Sen. Inhofe and Rep. Upton have written a bill - in a collaborative and transparent way - that permanently fixes this problem and it should be sent to the President without delay."

Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.): "Indiana continues to suffer from 9.5% unemployment, higher than the national average. The last thing we need at this critical stage for the economy, is to have a bunch of big government federal regulators coming with rules that cost even more jobs. At a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing a year ago, I warned the EPA, but they have taken no heed of congressional oversight."

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah):  "According to NOAA's Satellite and Information Center, since 1994 Utah has cooled at the rate of almost half-a-degree Fahrenheit per decade.  I don't know if cooling is a bad or good thing, but the last place I'd go for an answer to that question is the EPA or the UN, two of the most power-grabbing agenda-driven organizations on the planet.

Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.): "These cap and tax regulations bypassing the Congress are misguided at best. The consumer will pay for them in the form of increased energy costs at a time when world events are already driving up prices. These policies will be especially hard on America's farmers and ranchers, while little to no reduction in carbon emissions is actually achieved. This bill will protect our struggling economy from taxes that will hit every American."

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.): "Congress is the appropriate branch of the federal government to debate and design a climate change policy. I do not appreciate the implied threat that if Congress does not go along with the EPA, the agency will impose costly regulations. This bill is about preserving the traditional and constitutional role of Congress as elected representatives of the citizens of this country to make necessary and proper laws for our nation."

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas): "This measure is critical to ending the Obama Administration's energy takeover as they continue to force their command and control agenda on states through backdoor EPA regulations, which are crippling businesses and economic development throughout the nation.  The EPA has enacted rules on greenhouse gases which the Congress never intended.  Unfortunately, Texas is no stranger to this administrative overreach by the EPA which has taken over critical portions of our state's emissions permitting program.  I hope that the Senate will quickly take up this bill and pass it to release the EPA's stranglehold on Texas and our nation's economy."

Senator John Thune (R-S.D.): "Our national unemployment rate continues to hover at nine percent and American families struggle to make ends meet, yet unelected bureaucrats at the EPA continue to craft costly backdoor energy taxes that will hit each and every person's checkbook even more. These burdensome cap-and-trade rules increase costs for consumers and energy producers across South Dakota, and stifle job creation and investment. The bipartisan Energy Tax Prevention Act will stop unelected bureaucrats' unilateral attempt to legislate climate rules through regulation."

Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.): "The last thing America's families and businesses need during this recession is a back door regulatory effort by the Administration to implement cap and trade. This legislation ensures that the Administration will not be able to regulate what it could not legislate, while also ensuring that they will not add new burdensome, job-killing energy taxes. I fully support this effort, and I will do all that I can to repeal existing onerous regulations and to prevent the Administration from imposing new taxes through more regulations."

Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.): "The Obama Administration's backdoor climate regulations will undercut efforts to create jobs and further erode America's global competitiveness - especially in the agriculture and energy sectors. The last thing Americans need is a national energy tax that would kill more jobs. The Clean Air Act was never intended to regulate greenhouse gases, and the EPA must be stopped from making decisions that circumvent Congress. We should do everything we can to create jobs and grow our economy - that includes stopping unelected bureaucrats from raising energy costs and using regulatory red tape to raise taxes and increase government intrusion into the lives of Americans." 

S. 482 has 42 Senate cosponsors.  They are: 

1.            Alexander, Lamar  (R-Tenn.)

2.            Ayotte, Kelly (R-N.H.)

3.            Barrasso, John  (R-Wyo.)

4.            Blunt, Roy  (R-Mo.)

5.            Boozman, John  (R-Ark.)

6.            Burr, Richard  (R-N.C.)

7.            Chambliss, Saxby  (R-Ga.)

8.            Coats, Dan  (R-Ind.)

9.            Coburn, Tom  (R-Okla.)

10.          Cochran, Thad  (R-Miss.)

11.          Corker, Bob  (R-Tenn.)

12.          Cornyn, John  (R-Texas)

13.          Crapo, Mike  (R-Idaho)

14.          DeMint, Jim  (R-S.C.)

15.          Ensign, John  (R-Nev.)

16.          Enzi, Mike  (R-Wyo.)

17.          Graham, Lindsey  (R-S.C.)

18.          Grassley, Chuck  (R-Iowa)

19.          Hatch, Orrin  (R-Utah)

20.          Hoeven, John  (R-N.D.)

21.          Hutchison, Kay Bailey  (R-Texas)

22.          Isakson, Johnny  (R-Ga.)

23.          Johanns, Mike  (R-Neb.)

24.          Johnson, Ron  (R-Wis.)

25.          Kyl, Jon  (R-Ariz.)

26.          Lee, Mike  (R-Utah)

27.          Lugar, Richard  (R-Ind.)  

28.          McCain, John (R-Ariz.)

29.          McConnell, Mitch  (R-Ky.)

30.          Moran, Jerry  (R-Kan.)

31.          Murkowski, Lisa  (R-Alaska)

32.          Paul, Rand  (R-Ky.)

33.          Portman, Rob  (R-Ohio)

34.          Risch, Jim  (R-Idaho)

35.          Roberts, Pat  (R-Kan.)

36.          Rubio, Marco  (R-Fla.)

37.          Sessions, Jeff  (R-Ala.)

38.          Shelby, Richard  (R-Ala.)

39.          Thune, John  (R-S.D.)

40.          Toomey, Pat  (R-Pa.)

41.          Vitter, David  (R-La.)

42.          Wicker, Roger  (R-Miss.)

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