Posted by Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov 

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USA Today Op-Ed   

Inhofe's view: All pain, no gain

By Senator Jim Inhofe

May 16, 2011 

Link to Op Ed 

Not too long ago, President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress proudly announced that America would lead the fight against global warming by passing a cap-and-trade bill. But despite overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress in 2009, Democrats barely found the votes to get the proposal through the House, and Senate Democrats never even brought it up for a vote.

The reason is simple. Cap-and-trade is designed to make the energy we use more expensive. Consider President Obama's Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who said in 2008, "Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." That's about $7 to $8 a gallon.

What the Democrats have since learned is that the American public is more skeptical of the science of global warming than at anytime over the past decade. Frank Newport of Gallup stated earlier this year, "Americans' attitudes toward the environment show a public that over the last two years has become less worried about the threat of global warming, less convinced that its effects are already happening, and more likely to believe that scientists themselves are uncertain about its occurrence."

While skepticism abounds, Americans are fully aware of the impact on their wallets. The Obama cap-and-trade agenda would cost our economy $300 billion to $400 billion annually: It would hurt families, business and farmers - basically anyone who drives a car and flips a light switch.

What would be gained from higher gas prices and staggering taxes? Virtually nothing. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, appointed by President Obama, admitted before the Senate that the U.S. action on global warming would have no impact on global carbon emissions. In fact, as jobs went to places like India, China and Mexico, where they don't have any emissions requirements, cap-and-trade would actually increase worldwide emissions.

For the past 10 years, I have led the fight against the Democrats' attack on affordable energy. This year, 64 senators voted to rein in the Obama administration as it attempts to push its cap-and-trade agenda through EPA regulations. In the end, as the hysteria of global warming continues to fade, so too will the cap-and-trade regime.

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., is the senior Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

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