Rep. Broun Labels Climate Bill "Wacky-Marxist Tax-And-Cap"

Rep. Broun Falsely Claimed Cap-And-Trade "Will Increase Energy Costs For Each Family By $3,100"

Rep. Broun Release: "...the Wacky-Marxist Tax and Cap bill...will increase energy costs for each family by $3,100." [Broun.House.gov, 6/4/09]

FactCheck.org: "The $3,100 Figure Is A Misrepresentation Of Both Obama's Proposal And The Study From Which The Number Is Derived." According to FactCheck.org: "Leading Republicans are claiming that President Obama's proposal to curb greenhouse gas emissions would cost households as much as $3,100 per year. The Republican National Committee calls it a 'massive national energy tax.' But the $3,100 figure is a misrepresentation of both Obama's proposal and the study from which the number is derived... If the government did use revenue from cap and trade 'to pay an equal lump-sum rebate to every household,' the CBO expert said, 'lower-income households could be better off.'" [FactCheck.org, 5/28/09; emphasis added]

Even Before Markup, The EPA Estimated Cap-And-Trade Bill Would Cost Less Than $150 Annually.  According to the Wall Street Journal: "The Environmental Protection Agency presented its analysis of the Waxman-Markey bill on Tuesday and said the contentious plan would cost households less than $150 a year.  That's a far cry from some of the dueling price tags that have been bandied about." [Wall Street Journal, 4/21/09; emphasis added]

• EPA: Markup Changes In Bill Decrease "The Impact On Household Energy Bills." According to an EPA report: "The change in early-year cap levels lowers allowance prices slightly. In the draft bill, the year-2020 emissions cap for covered sources was set at 20% below the year-2005 level. In H.R. 2454, the year-2020 cap is changed to 17% below the year-2005 level. (The 2012, 2030, and 2050 targets remain the same.) That relaxation of the cap, by itself, will lower allowance prices by 3%. Accordingly, that single change will lower the cost of the legislation for households, in part by lowering the impact on household energy bills." [EPA, accessed 5/27/09; emphasis and parentheses original]

By 2025, A Clean Energy Standard Would Save $95 Billion On Energy & Gas Bills.  According to the Center for American Progress: "A national renewable electricity standard, a key piece of the clean energy legislation currently before Congress, would save households and businesses in every state billions of dollars in electricity and natural gas bills... The numbers come from the Union of Concerned Scientists, who earlier this year analyzed a renewable electricity standard that would aim to have 25 percent of our electricity come from renewable sources by 2025. They found that this standard would save families and businesses $95 billion in electricity and natural gas bills through 2030 and spur new investments and hundreds of thousands of new clean-energy jobs." [Center for American Progress, 5/19/09]

Rep. Broun Called The American Clean Energy And Security Act "An Economy-Crippling Wacky-Marxist Tax-And-Cap Bill"

Rep. Broun Release: "I urge the American people to say no to the largest tax increase in American history and encourage their representatives to see the Waxman-Markey legislation for what it really is: an economy-crippling Wacky-Marxist Tax-and-Cap bill." [Broun.House.gov, 6/4/09]

FACT: Investment In Clean Energy Technology Will Create Over 1.5 Million American Jobs.  According to the Center for American Progress, a $100 billion Green Recovery program would create 1,578, 282 American jobs. [Center for American Progress, "Green Recovery," September 2008]

Investment In Renewable Energy Has Already Salvaged Many Manufacturing Facilities Closed During Economic Downturn.  Across America, factories and plants abandoned by the old economy have been re-tooled and re-opened to satisfy the growing demand for new energy technologies. For instance, once hopeless manufacturing plants in Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Michigan have re-energized their communities by creating jobs and leading the charge toward a new energy future. [Bloomberg, 4/2/09; Star Tribune, 4/22/09; Grand Rapids Press, 3/6/08]