Committee Passes Energy Tax Prevention Act to Stop EPA Plan That Will Drive Up Gas Prices, Destroy Jobs

With Rising Gas Prices, Republicans Work To Reduce Energy Costs

Uploaded by RepublicanSenators on Mar 15, 2011

Senators Mitch McConnell, Jim Inhofe and John Barrasso discuss an amendment that would stop the Environmental Protection Agency's back-door national energy tax from taking effect. The amendment was originally introduced as a stand-alone bill by Sen. Inhofe, the ranking Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee. That bill has 43 co-sponsors including one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Posted by Katie Boyd on March 15, 2011

Today, the House Energy & Commerce Committee passed the Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910) to stop the EPA from implementing the Obama Administration’s backdoor national energy tax that will drive up gas prices further and destroy American jobs.  The Energy Tax Prevention Act is an important part of theAmerican Energy Initiative, an ongoing effort by the new majority to address rising gas prices and help create jobs.  As House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) said in his opening remarksahead of today’s vote, “This bill says ‘stop’ to an EPA attempting to impose policies we cannot afford that will destroy jobs we cannot afford to lose.  By passing this bill, we can put Congress back in charge of setting the energy and environmental policies that will allow our nation to create jobs, bring down prices at the pump, and make America more secure and energy independent.” Here is more on the Energy Tax Prevention Act: 

The Energy Tax Prevention Act: Stopping the EPA from Driving Up Gas Prices & Making It Harder to Create New Jobs:

• According to Steve Cousins, Vice President of Lions Oil Company, the Energy Tax Prevention Act is needed “to protect the domestic refining industry and the quality jobs we provide to individuals across the country…[and] to protect consumers, farmers and truckers from higher gasoline and diesel fuel prices.”
• Economist W. David Montgomery testified that, under proposed EPA regulations, “natural gas demand would rise significantly to replace coal, putting additional upward pressure on natural gas prices.”
• If the EPA’s job-stifling regulations are allowed to move forward, the Heritage Foundation estimates “[a]nnual job losses [will] exceed 800,000 for several years.”
• In a hearing earlier this month, several job creators confirmed that the proposed EPA regulations would cause “more confusion and greater uncertainty” for businesses, leading to “less work and fewer jobs” in America.

The Energy Tax Prevention Act has garnered the support of three House Democrats, one of whom warns that “If Congress does not do something about the regulations being imposed on our farmers, ranchers and rural communities, the economic effects could be devastating.” Today’s vote is an encouraging step forward in the new majority’s effort to help end the economic uncertainty that is creating a barrier to job growth, and we are hopeful that the bill will pass the House with bipartisan support.