MyWestTexas.com - "Cap-And-Trade" Serious Stumbling Block to Texas

Op-Ed

MyWestTexas.com - "Cap-And-Trade" Serious Stumbling Block to Texas Economic Recovery

By John Cornyn
United States Senator

Texas families and businesses are fighting through the toughest recession in a generation. Across our state, heads of household and owners of small businesses are doing their best to keep moving forward. Yet Washington continues to pursue policies that will put stumbling blocks in our path, and make it harder for Texans to lead the way toward our next economic recovery.

One of those stumbling blocks is the stimulus bill. This boondoggle was promised to "save or create" 3.5 million jobs, including more than a quarter million for Texas. Instead, our state unemployment rate is now over 7 percent, and many other states are faring even worse. But Washington elites are doubling down on their failed strategy. They are considering another stimulus bill that will further increase our debt, and further delay our nation's recovery.

Another stumbling block would hurt Texas more than any other state: The "Cap-and-Trade" bill that will soon be debated in the Senate. This bill ostensibly would promote the expansion of alternative energy technologies, which is a worthy goal. Texas has pioneered the deployment of many of these technologies, and today millions of our homes are powered in part by wind turbines, solar panels, advanced nuclear reactors, and cleaner burning natural gas.

Texas became an alternative energy leader through private investment, not government command-and-control. We put the right incentives in place, then let loose the entrepreneurial spirit that has always defined our state. Today, Texas has more than 8,000 megawatts of installed wind capacity, more than twice that of any other state. We've also strongly supported the construction of new nuclear power plants, which emit zero greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere.

Yet "Cap-and-Trade" is less about electrical power than political power, as Washington elites try to punish states like Texas. Our state is vulnerable on both ends of the energy supply chain. Our climate creates more demand for energy, especially during the summer months. Texas is home to many energy-intensive industries that produce goods sold across the nation and around the world. And our state is the leading producer of energy from oil and natural gas, which will continue to contribute greatly to our energy grid for decades to come.

"Cap-and-Trade" would increase electricity bills for every Texan. Based on data from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Department of Energy, the bill would cost Texas consumers more than $1.2 billion a year, by far the most of any state. We are now seeing what President Obama meant last year when he said that under his plan, "electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket."

Texans would also see higher costs from "Cap-and-Trade" throughout the family budget. According to the Texas Comptroller's Office, a typical family would see prices go up by more than $1,100 a year on household goods, including more than $200 a year on health care alone. As the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed, "firms would not ultimately bear most of the costs ... but instead would pass them along to their consumers in the form of higher prices."

"Cap-and-Trade" would also cost Texas jobs. The Comptroller's Office estimates that this bill could force job losses of 135,000 to 277,000 in our state by 2012. Many of these jobs would come from the many small and independent businesses that together operate more than 90 percent of the oil and gas wells in our state.

"Cap-and-Trade" is not the only way Washington is targeting the Texas economy. President Obama has already proposed $1.4 trillion in higher taxes over the next 10 years -- not including any new taxes being considered as part of health care reform. Among these higher taxes are repeals of nine oil and gas tax incentives that are especially important for Texas. These incentives help encourage our entrepreneurs to continue developing America's natural resources and create new jobs.

Higher taxes and energy bills are the last thing Texas families and small businesses need to see. A better approach would create incentives for all alternative energy technologies without picking winners and losers in Washington. A better approach would also reduce the demand for energy by promoting efficiency. That is the approach that produces power and creates jobs in Texas, and that is the approach I am advocating in Washington.

Source