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Non-partisan group extends education, advocacy campaign for fourth consecutive week in Palmetto State

Washington, DC – As U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) continues to work to enact a job-killing cap-and-trade bill as part of larger global warming policy, the American Energy Alliance (AEA) – a non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization– launched yet another television commercial today aimed at educating South Carolina residents about how cap-and-trade will increase energy prices, weaken America’s ability to compete in the global economy and cost good-paying jobs.

Thomas J. Pyle, AEA’s president, issued this statement:

“As Congress continues to work to ration and increase our energy resources through cap-and-trade, South Carolinians deserve to have all the facts and know where and why their elected officials in Washington stand on these critical issues. Legislation outlined by Senator Graham will force energy and electricity prices to skyrocket. And worse, these heavy-handed proposals will cost even more American jobs. While some in Congress have a ‘Washington position’ and a ‘homestate position,’ the facts about cap-and-trade do not change.”

Continued Pyle: “Senator Graham continues to tout ‘offshore drilling’ as part of his plan. And while this rhetoric is appealing, it discounts the fact that Congress has retired the offshore drilling ban, thanks in large part to the clear majority of Americans who favor responsible offshore energy development. If Senator Graham was sincere in his desire to increase domestic energy exploration, he’d urge the president and Interior secretary to do so immediately — not push a new national energy tax called cap-and-trade.”

NOTE: AEA launched an education and advocacy campaign in South Carolina on October 22. The objective of this multi-media campaign is to engage residents of South Carolina and arm them with the facts about global warming legislation Senator Graham is advocating. AEA is a non-partisan, non-profit energy advocacy group that engages in grassroots advocacy to promote market-based solutions to our nation’s energy and environmental challenges.

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WASHINGTON– In honor of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ passage of the Kerry-Boxer cap-and-trade bill, the American Energy Alliance (AEA) today released its top 10 reasons to support cap-and-trade:

10) It’ll be the largest tax increase in history and will help pay for the government takeover of health care.

9) America’s unemployment rate is only 10 percent. Higher energy prices and the resulting transfer of American businesses overseas will help us double it.

8) The U.S. has been the world’s number one economic superpower for long enough. It’s time to lie down and give someone else a turn.

7) Expensive energy is good. Really expensive energy is even better.

6) By making it more expensive to produce more of the vast amounts of American oil we have right at home and transitioning to affordable, commercial-scale alternatives that don’t exist, we can end our dependence on foreign oil in 10 years!

5) Spending billions of taxpayer dollars to create temporary, government jobs at the expense of long-term, private sector jobs not only makes perfect sense, it’ll be a boon to the nation’s struggling economy. Just look at Spain .

4) Energy is the lifeblood of the American economy – it is, literally, the capacity to do work. Hence, making American energy more expensive and less available will strengthen our economy and enhance our capacity to put Americans to work. Get it?

3) California and Massachusetts have adopted similar policies and they’re now enjoying some of the highest energy prices and unemployment rates in the nation. We need to level the playing field so every state can reap the benefits of expensive energy and abundant joblessness.

2) It will create millions of well-paying green jobs without destroying the jobs of Americans who are currently employed. Who put the green welfare provisions in there, anyway?

1) Reducing economic growth while achieving virtually no environmental benefit is simply a good idea . Don’t ask questions.

WASHINGTON– As theSenate Committee on Environment and Public Works continues to discusscap-and-trade, the American Energy Alliance (AEA) released its top 10 questionsfor the committee’s members.

10) Do you think Americans are not paying enough for gasoline,electricity, food, clothing, and just about everything else?

9)  Was President Obama just kidding when he said, “Under my planof a cap-and-trade system, electricity prices would necessarilyskyrocket”? What about the President’sstatement about cap-and-trade bankrupting coal companies – companies that provide nearly 50 percent of ournation’s electricity? 

8) Contrary to recent CBO estimatesthat rely on a theoretically unsupported assumption about the economic impactof free allowances on U.S. households, a recent study found that the lowest-earning 80 percent of families would bear the entirenet burden of the cost of cap-and-trade legislation, whilerent-seeking corporations and the wealthiest 20 percent would profit. Which of the rent-seeking corporations you have metwith would benefit the most from a cap-and-trade system that punishes the poor?

7) There’s been lots of talk recentlyabout EPA’s economic analysis of cap-and-trade’s impact on American families.Assuming you’ve read the latest report, can you confirm for the record that theagency’s cost estimates are founded on the assumption that 100 or more newnuclear power facilities will be opened and in operation by 2030? Can youconfirm further that we haven’t opened a single new nuclear power facility in30 years?

6) Can you explain exactly how theinclusion of “Worker Adjustment Assistance” is not a clearadmission that the bill would put Americans out of work?   Do youbelieve that destroying Americans’ jobs are putting them on green welfare is aneffective, responsible method of putting “millions of people back to work?”

5) Speaking of green welfare, have you seen the recent studyfrom Germany which found that the German government’s supportof green energy between 2000 and 2010 is expected to exceed $100 billion? A similar expenditure in the U.S. wouldamount to half a trillion dollars.  Would that beenough?  How much government support for green energy and temporary greenjobs is enough?

4) Speaking of temporary ‘green jobs’ created by government fiat, haveyou had a chance to read the study from Spaindetailing how that nation’s “green jobs” program destroyed 2.2 private sectorjobs for every green job it created?  It also found that 9 out of 10 greenjobs created no longer exist.  Does this sound like a model the U.S.should follow?

3) Can you explain why it makes good economic and practical sense toincrease the price of 84percent of the energy we use whileforcing American taxpayers to use more of the mostexpensive and least reliable sources at ourdisposal and handing out billions more of their tax dollars togovernment-dependent wind and solar companies in hopes that wind and solarmight , possibly, someday soon, be capable of providing a full one percent ofthe energy that fuels America’s economy?

2) Did you know that joblessness is Oregon hasmore thandoubled in the years since the State’s governor signed intolaw a massive increase in taxpayer subsidies for ‘green energy’, a program thatis expected to costOregon taxpayers $478 million by 2013? Is this the kind of ‘green energy economy’ envisioned by thislegislation?

1) Unemployment in the U.S.approaching 10 percent.  How much higher do you think it should go? If you could choose, which overseas nation would you send Americans’ jobs to?

South Carolina voters deserve to know where Sen. Graham stands on cap-and-trade

WASHINGTON – As Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) continues to defend his support for a job-killing national energy tax, the American Energy Alliance (AEA) today examined some of his most recent public statements.

NOTE: AEA is currently engaged in an ongoing cap-and-trade advocacy and educational campaign in South Carolina. Earlier this week, the free market energy group launched a statewide television and radio campaign questioning Senator Graham’s support for a national energy tax. Click HERE to view this ad.

Senate EPW kicks off cap-and-raid debate, set to hear from over 50 witnesses
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New AEA TV adhits South Carolina airwaves this week
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Washington, DC – With South Carolina’s senior senator throwing his support behind job-killing cap-and-trade legislation, the American Energy Alliance (AEA) today announced the first phase of a comprehensive educational campaign aimed at arming South Carolinians with the facts about such far-reaching policies and their potential impact on the state’s struggling economy. The campaign will kick off tomorrow, Thursday, October 22.

“In a state where the unemployment rate is hovering near 12 percent, it is troubling that Senator Graham would support legislation that will ship more American jobs overseas and shutter small businesses nationwide,” said Thomas J. Pyle, president of AEA. “Ironically, Senator Graham rightfully acknowledged this fact in a town hall meeting just days after announcing his support for the Kerry-Boxer global warming bill.”

Phase one of this education campaign, entitled We Can’t Afford It, will consist of a significant statewide radio advertisement buy beginning tomorrow.

“While Senator Graham may feel the need to do “something” on energy policy, this campaign is designed to share the life-altering impacts cap-and-trade legislation will have on our economy for decades to come with the people of his home state of South Carolina,” continued Pyle.

In an October 10 New York Times op-ed written jointly by US Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and John Kerry (D-MA), the senators wrote that they were “committed to seeking compromise on additional onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration – work that was started by a bipartisan group in the Senate last Congress.”

However, with the recent abolishment of both the congressional and executive bans on offshore drilling, there is currently no policy in place prohibiting the exploration and production of our vast domestic offshore energy resources. Currently, the only thing standing between the job-creating energy resources and the nearly one in ten Americans out of work is the Interior Department’s inaction.

“If the senator wants to increase job-creating domestic energy production offshore and on, there is no need for legislation. And if he was truly serious about this critical issue, urging the Interior secretary and president to act would speak volumes. However, using offshore oil and gas development as a perceived bargaining chip in this debate is not only misleading, it’s baseless and completely with out merit,” Pyle added.

Click HERE to listen to the radio ad and HERE to obtain the fact sheet supporting the radio ad.

According to the Associated Press, South Carolina’s unemployment rate is 11.6 percent, the fifth highest in the nation.

A recent study determined that responsible offshore energy production in South Carolina could:

• Create approximately 2,250 new jobs in South Carolina;
• Add $413 million annually to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); and
• Generate over $45 billion in government revenues at all levels of government (federal, state and local).

The American Energy Alliance (AEA) is a not-for-profit organization that engages in public policy advocacy and debate surrounding the function, operation, and government regulation of global energy markets.  AEA, an affiliate of the Institute for Energy Research, works to educate and mobilize citizens around the idea that freely functioning energy markets provide the most efficient and effective solutions to today’s global energy and environmental challenges.

An “Improvement” to Cash-and-Kerry…

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WASHINGTON, DC— Earlier today, U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) released a draft of their energy tax bill, legislation that will not only create an annual $14 billion transfer of wealth from the nation’s poorest to the nation’s wealthiest, but will also destroy American jobs and levy the largest tax in U.S. history on American families and consumers. AEA president Thomas J. Pyle released the following statement on the bill:

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