WASHINGTON D.C. - Rep. Darrell Issa (CA), the Ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, today issued the following statement on the introduction of Cap & Trade legislation by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) that will raise the costs of gasoline, electricity, and other forms of energy for the American people:

“Instead of improving the House’s flawed cap-and-trade proposal to tax energy, the Senate bill would create even higher energy bills and greater job losses.  Senate Democrats have received angry feedback from Americans with their ideologically based proposals for healthcare.   The far-left special interest agenda on energy, will create even more outrage as Democrats move to out-source American jobs to countries like India and China who have no intention of scaling back emissions.”

The Senate bill, compared to its House counterpart, requires sharper emissions reductions in the near term (20% by 2020 as opposed to a 17% reduction required in the House bill) and fails to block EPA from creating a duplicative and costly regulatory scheme under the Clean Air Act that even the Administration acknowledges will harm American businesses.  By sending jobs and manufacturing abroad to countries that do not regulate emissions, cap-and-trade has the potential to actually harm the environment by increasing global emissions.

Click here to read the Oversight and Government Reform Committee report on the House Cap & Trade bill.