The House of Representatives approved measures on Friday that were introduced by U.S. Reps. Charles Boustany (R-LA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) to voice opposition to the president’s proposals of a $10 tax on every barrel of oil and a tax on carbon.
The House approved a measures introduced by Scalise expressing that it is the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to American families and businesses and would not be in the best interest of the United States.
“You can just look at what some of the outside groups that look at this. The National Association of Manufacturers, the people that make things in America, have confirmed we lose more than a million jobs in America if a carbon tax was imposed,” Scalise said. “Where would those jobs go? They’d go to countries, ironically, that don’t have the good environmental standards we already have. So they would go to countries like China and India where if you’re concerned about carbon going into the atmosphere, the things that they do to produce the same things we produce here in America, it creates more than five times the amount of carbon in those countries. So you’re shifting jobs out of America to send it to countries where you’d actually create more carbon.”
The House also approved a Boustany measure expressing that Congress opposes a new tax on oil and urges that the detrimental impacts of tax policy changes be considered going forward.
Boustany said that a new tax on oil would not be a carbon tax — it would be a tax on working families and on the American economy.
“It’s a regressive tax,” Boustany said. “It hurts people who are most dependent on fixed incomes; and seniors, it hurts them most. Why would we even consider doing this? There are better ways to set up taxation for this country that meet our needs. I just don’t understand why, other than the fact that there is a radical environmental agenda, to propose this type of tax that would hurt manufacturing, American competitiveness. We can’t do this. We need to grow this economy. We need growth around 3 to 4 percent minimum to create jobs to let American business create value to assert American leadership globally. We are not going to do this with a carbon tax — we won’t do it. We need pro growth policies.”
U.S Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that President Barack Obama wants to “go out swinging in his battle against Pennsylvania coal, but it’s a fight that I’m not willing to give up.”
“The House’s action makes clear that we are vigorously opposed to a carbon tax that would force American energy prices to go up and jobs to be wiped away,” Shuster added. “Additionally, the president’s plan to include a new $10 tax on every barrel of oil will also stifle economic growth in what remains a fragile economy and efforts to implement it should be rejected.”
U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) said that the resolutions introduced by Scalise and Boustany, as well as the House-approved Ozone Standards Implementation Act, H.R. 4775, giving states more flexibility in implementing EPA ozone standards, would help families and businesses.
“Hoosier families and businesses already pay enough for gas and electricity. They don’t need higher energy taxes or burdensome regulations squeezing them even more,” Walorski said. “These measures will protect Hoosier families by sending a clear message to the administration that we won’t stand for new energy taxes, and will support Hoosier manufacturers by creating a more realistic timeline for complying with ozone regulations.”
U.S. Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) added that a carbon tax would drive up the cost of energy for both producers and consumers, translating into higher energy bills and less disposable income for families.
“Put simply, a carbon tax would make it harder for us to grow our economy and help working families and small businesses succeed,” Black said. “We all want an all-of-the-above energy approach that supports new innovations, not a targeted tax hike on specific industries. Thanks to the leadership of Whip Scalise, Congress will pass this bill today and send it to the Senate, and we will send a clear message to the people in our districts, as well as to the Obama White House, that we do not support this extreme tax.”
Black called for passage of legislation that helps grow the economy and puts Americans back to work.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), meanwhile, said that adding a $10 tax to every barrel of oil “just doesn’t make sense.”
“I would hope that we could come together in America’s House and do what is right for America’s people, to do what is right for the people who sent us here to represent them because they are working so hard to make sure that there is a future for their children,” Kelly said.