Providing for Consideration of H. Con. Res. Expressing the Sense of Congress That A Carbon Tax Would Be Detrimental to the United States Economy

Floor Speech

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Mr. TONKO. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Americans across our country are very much suffering the negative effects of climate change. They expect Congress to respond with a plan. We may not agree on all the details, but our constituents deserve a serious debate.

This resolution is not serious. It reflects an extreme rightwing climate inaction plan: embrace denial, sow disinformation, and cash checks from polluters.

This resolution reveals the hypocrisy of the Republican energy strategy.

They claim to care about innovation, but support budget cuts to critical research programs like ARPA-E and EERE.

They claim to care about economic growth, but ignore the millions of jobs that have been created in the clean energy universe and fail to see the opportunities to add millions more.

They claim to care about low-income Americans, but cheer the rollback of environmental standards that would protect them.

They claim to support free markets, but fail to speak out when President Trump suggests unprecedented market interventions to bail out uncompetitive coal plants at great expense to Americans, especially manufacturers.

Make no mistake: greenhouse gases are serious pollutants that will have long-term consequences. America needs a climate plan, not a love letter to polluters.

Members that support this resolution are sending a clear message to the American people that they care more about polluters' interests than the people we are asked to serve.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this misguided resolution.

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