FreedomWorks Distributes False Talking Points On Cap-And-Trade

FreedomWorks Released An August Recess Action Kit

FreedomWorks Released An August Recess Action Kit.  On August 5, 2009, FreedomWorks released its August Recess Action Kit.  Chairman Dick Armey wrote: "We've provided an August Recess Action Kit for you packed with good talking points, important questions, handouts to invite friends to attend events with you, and other helpful resources. Thank you in advance for doing your part. Congresswoman Pelosi will know soon enough that August isn't like any other month, August is when the grassroots took a stand once and for all." [FreedomWorks, 8/5/09]

Media Matters Action Network has debunked FreedomWorks' claims on health insurance reform here.

FreedomWorks Spreads Falsehoods About The Cost Of Cap-And-Trade

FreedomWorks' August Recess Action Kit States:

Waxman-Markey cap and trade could more accurately be called "cap and tax" as it threatens to impose huge new costs to energy consumers. [FreedomWorks, 8/5/09]

In Reality, The American Clean Energy And Security Act Would Have Very Little Impact On American Energy Consumers.

Reuters: "Climate Legislation Moving Through Congress Would Have Only A Modest Impact On Consumers." According to Reuters: "A new U.S. government study on Tuesday adds to a growing list of experts concluding that climate legislation moving through Congress would have only a modest impact on consumers, adding around $100 to household costs in 2020. Under the climate legislation passed by the House of Representatives in June, electricity, heating oil and other bills for average families will rise $134 in 2020 and $339 in 2030, according to the Energy Information Administration, the country's top energy forecaster." [Reuters, 8/5/09]

In Fact, Waxman-Markey Will Result In Lower Energy Costs.

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] 

FreedomWorks' August Recess Action Kit States:

Various economic analysis estimate the costs of Waxman-Markey-like legislation to the American household would be between $800 and $1,300 by 2015. [FreedomWorks, 8/5/09]

In Reality, Various Economic Analyses Show The American Clean Energy And Security Act Will Cost Just Cents A Day.

EIA: American Clean Energy And Security Act Would Cost Only $0.23 Per Day. According to a House Energy and Commerce Committee factsheet of the Energy Information Administration's analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act: "The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has completed an analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives... The overall impact on the average household, including the benefit of many of the energy efficiency provisions in the legislation, would be 23 cents per day ($83 per year). This is consistent with analyses by the Congressional Budget Office which projects a cost of 48 cents per day ($175 per year) and the Environmental Protection Agency which projects a cost of 22 to 30 cents per day ($80 to $111 per year)." [House Energy and Commerce Committee, EIA's Economic Analysis Of "The American Clean Energy And Security Act Of 2009," 8/4/09; emphasis original]

CBO: In 2020, Cap-And-Trade Will Only Cost An Average Of $175 Annually, "About A Postage Stamp A Day." In its analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the Congressional Budget Office wrote: "On that basis, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the net annual economy wide cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $22 billion-or about $175 per household." Rep. Edward Markey noted it was "the cost of about a postage stamp a day." [CBO, 6/19/09; House Committee on Energy & Commerce Release, 6/20/09]

• Cap-And-Trade Would DECREASE Energy Prices For Low-Income Americans. In its analysis of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the Congressional Budget Office wrote, "households in the lowest income quintile would see an average net benefit of about $40 in 2020." [CBO, 6/19/09; emphasis original]

FreedomWorks Falsely States Cap-And-Trade Would Cost Jobs

FreedomWorks' August Recess Action Kit States:

Waxman-Markey would cost American jobs. An analysis conducted in 2007 of the kind of policy approach contained in Waxman-Markey estimated as many as 1.2 million to 2.3 million jobs would be lost. [FreedomWorks, 8/5/09]

Investment In Clean Energy Technology Will Create Over 1.7 Million American Jobs.  According to the Center for American Progress: "Investments in a clean-energy economy will generate major employment benefits for the entire U.S. economy. Our research finds that spending $150 billion on clean-energy investments would create roughly 1.7 million jobs. This is even after assuming a reduction in fossil fuel spending equivalent to the increase in clean-energy investments." [Center for American Progress, The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy, 6/17/09]

• Every Single State Will Gain Jobs From An Investment In Clean Energy Technologies. According to the Center for American Progress, investments in clean energy projects would create 1.7 million American jobs in every state in the country. [Center for American Progress, The Economic Benefits of Investing in Clean Energy, 6/17/09]

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]

FreedomWorks Falsely States Cap-And-Trade Cause Huge Increases In Gas Prices

FreedomWorks' August Recess Action Kit States:

Analyses shows that gas prices could even climb back up to $4 a gallon. This is the hidden tax that Waxman-Markey threatens to impose on American energy consumers! [FreedomWorks, 8/5/09]

 Cap-And-Trade Would Only Increase Gasoline Prices By $0.23 Over The Next 11 Years.  As reported by the New York Times, "The new report, which is scheduled to be released soon, looked at the legislation sponsored by Democratic Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California and Edward J. Markey Jr. of Massachusetts. It found that the bill's provisions would cause electricity rates to rise 3 percent to 4 percent and gasoline prices to rise 23 cents a gallon by 2020, causing a fall in household consumption of between $21 and $235 a year." [New York Times, 8/4/09]