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How 'bout that San Francisco Treat! Speaker Pelosi Guarantees Cap and Trade THIS YEAR

April 22, 2009

Higher energy costs and increased unemployment to follow

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson, R-Pa., issued the following statement in response to a POLITICO story where Speaker Pelosi declared that the House of Representatives will pass cap and trade legislation by year’s end:

“Ramming climate change legislation through the House to appease the radical environmental movement will devastate an already ailing economy. The doom and gloom scare tactics implored by those on the left are disingenuous and laughable at best. What is not so funny are the real life effects of cap and trade: higher energy prices and increased unemployment.

“In Pennsylvania, a proud energy producing state, cap and trade would cause our electricity rates to increase upwards of 30 to 40 percent – in addition to the 30 to 40 percent increase when rate caps are removed in 2010. As result of ‘cap and tax’, hard working families will be shelling out an additional $3,185 annually. This may be peanuts to those living in San Francisco, but it’s no treat to folks living in rural Pennsylvania.

“Cap and trade is nothing more than a war on the poor and a way for the Speaker to drive up the price of the very energy sources that made this county what it is today. We should be encouraging increased domestic production of oil, coal and natural gas – not enacting punitive legislation to drive up the cost of energy that will stifle economic growth and increase unemployment.”

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