Alarming Research on Cap-and-Trade Bill: Why Texas will Suffer Most

In a previous Texas GOP Vote.com blog, we explained the consequences of the proposed cap-and-trade bill (HR 2454). Now that the bill has made it past the U.S. House, the potential repercussions we may have to endure from this bill become more menacing by the minute.

The Houston Chronicle reports that the analysis recently released by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) unveils some intriguing news about this proposed cap-and-trade bill. ERCOT projects that HR 2454 will result in significant job losses and dramatic increases in the cost of electricity.

 

What is the justification put forward by the bill’s proponents, including President Barack Obama, for destroying jobs and dramatically increasing your electric bill? An attempt, based upon computer models with no guarantee of success, to prevent the Earth’s temperature from rising a couple degrees by the year 2100.

The study went on to explain that this proposed bill has the capability to reduce the “already projected rise in temperatures by only 9/100ths of one degree in 2050.” If passed, the cap-and-trade bill will be the largest tax increase in American history. The amount of money we will have to give to the government to fund this bill as well as the reported jobs we will be losing seems in no way worth the 9/100ths of one degree we will save. The Houston Chronicle equates this to “eating only tofu and water for the rest of your life in order to lose a pound or two.”

Unfortunately, Texas will suffer the most from this bill. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explained that those areas of the U.S. with: 1) long driving distances; 2) large demands for residential air conditioning; and 3) an electric generation portfolio heavily reliant upon fossil fuel will be afflicted the most. The EPA may as well have come out and said they were talking about Texas, with “835 miles from one end of the state to the other, really hot summers, and more than 80 percent of our electricity coming from burning fossil fuels.”

“An analysis by the National Association of Manufacturers found that job losses in Texas would be from 250,000 to 330,000 in 2030, and that electricity prices would increase between 100 and 145 percent.”

So who on Earth would support this climate change bill? Simply put- those that will not have to pay for it. “Ninety-five percent of the cost of proposed climate change legislation would be paid for by electric consumers living outside of the Pacific coast and New England.” We can safely conclude that it is no coincidence that the sponsors of this proposed legislation are from California and Massachusetts.

Does it seem fair that Texas will be stuck footing a huge portion of this bill? Texas has more wind generation than any other state, which we have incorporated in order to help reduce carbon emissions. Furthermore, “our Texas leaders have already taken steps to use more renewable energy resources, increase our energy efficiency goals, and clean up the air.” Yet once again, we will have to endure the ravage of the federal government meddling in our affairs.

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