Congressman Patrick McHenry (NC-10) released the following statement regarding his vote against H.R. 2454, the cap-and-trade bill.

"For this Congress to cut jobs and raise energy costs on working families at a time like this truly boggles the mind.  The economy is shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs every month and families are struggling to pay their bills.  So I fail to see the wisdom in eliminating 88,000 jobs in North Carolina alone, raising energy prices by $1,400 annually on every household, and hiking gasoline prices by 77 cents per gallon.  For what?  So we can possibly lower the earth’s temperature by two-tenths of a degree by the end of the century.  Any serious climate change initiative must include binding commitments from China and India to reduce carbon emissions.  In the absence of that, we are asking the American people to bear enormous sacrifices at a time when they can least afford it – for two-tenths of a degree by 2100.”

(sources: Heritage Foundation, Congressional Budget Office, American Petroleum Institute)

NOTES:
Groups opposing the legislation include the National Association of Manufacturers, National Textile Association, and American Farm Bureau Federation.

“Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” – President Barack Obama

“Nobody in this country realizes that cap-and-trade is a tax, and it’s a great big one.” – Congressman John Dingell (D-MI)

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