Posted: 06/24/2009
Public Should Prepare For Disaster If Congress Acts Too Quickly On Energy Tax
NCPA Expert says Congress Should Approach with Caution and Fully View the Bill Before Voting
Dallas (June 24, 2009) - Caution, not speed should be the approach for the Waxman-Markey climate bill expected to hit the house floor on Friday, according to NCPA Senior Fellow, H. Sterling Burnett.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has announced a floor vote on a 1,201 page climate change bill that no one in the House has even read in its entirety, and which final details will evidently be worked on right up to the time of the vote, according to Burnett.
"How can the Speaker call for a new energy tax bill in a recession, much less a bill that hasn't even had a hearing in its final form?" Burnett asked. "This bill is after all supposed to guide energy policy and tax energy for the next 50 years. Surely Congress should have time to fully vet the final language and terms of the bill and allow the public to be made aware of the details and have input in the hearings."
America should want to know how much the bill will cost and who gets paid off with windfalls from the carbon credits and subsidies, while the public gets the tab, Burnett said.
"As the old adage says, haste makes waste, and no where is this more true than in this bill," Burnett said. "We should avoid making the same mistakes that we made with the financial bailout, in this energy tax bill. After, and only after, all of the final language is written and each legislator has had time to read and review the full bill, Congress should then have public hearings with invited testimony. Let's take our time and get it right this time."