Issue Position: Cap and Trade

Issue Position

Cap and Trade, commonly called emissions trading, will have a devastating impact on the economies that depend on oil and gas. The people of South Louisiana who work hard in the oilfields and our nation running
will be severely impacted by this policy.

I oppose it and any sort of emissions trading for the following reasons:

* Carbon offsets will be passed on to the consumer in an average increase in utility bills of $1600 per year. At a time when we are faced with economic uncertainty, we do not need another fee passed on to the hard working taxpayers of this country.

* Carbon trading will have little effect on overall pollution within the United States, as those that pollute less will have the opportunity to sell their carbon credits to those companies that have a greater pollution risk.

* A cap and trade system will devastate the free market here in the United States and would allow a central entity, that being the United States, to regulate the flow of commerce within the country by controlling emissions.

A more realistic approach to global independence regarding our energy issues are simple. We should allow a greater flexibility to harvest those resources that we have here in the United States while we move toward other sources of energy at the same time. We need to drill here, drill now.

We simply cannot drop all dependence on fossil fuels… it is a unrealistic approach.

Here in Louisiana, the vast resources we have in fossil fuels, such as oil shale, can lessen our dependence on foreign sources of oil, especially to those countries that do not hold to the values and interests of our country.

South Louisiana can help fuel our nation and make us less dependent on foreign oil now, and for years to come.

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