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Washington, DC – Following numerous press reports that SenatorsJohn Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.)submitted their climate change legislation to the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) for analysis, the American Energy Alliance filed a Freedom ofInformation Act (FOIA) request with the EPA to obtain a copy of thelegislation.

“The American people have the right to know what’s in thisbill,” said Thomas J. Pyle, president of AEA, a market-based energy advocacy organization. “While Senators Graham,Kerry and Lieberman have been meeting behind closed doors with the utilityindustry, big business, environmental groups and big oil, the American consumerhas been shut out of the process.  Not surprisingly, it is the Americanconsumer that will foot the bill when thislegislation forces gasoline,diesel and utility bills to increase.”

Senators Kerry, Graham and Lieberman have worked for nearly sixand a half months to craft legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions andincrease the price of coal, oil, and natural gas – 85 percent of our energysupply. While the specificcontents of this legislation seemto be top secret, we do know that for any energy rationing scheme to work, it will lead toconsiderably higher energy costs for American families and businesses.

“We filed this request on behalf of the American people,”continued Pyle.  “Since Senators Graham, Kerry and Lieberman have refusedto share this job-killing legislation with the public, maybe the “most open andtransparent” administration in history will honor our request. After all, whatdo they have to hide?”

Following is an excerpt of the FOIA request:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, Ihereby request a copy of any and all energy legislation from Senator Kerry, orSenator Graham, or Senator Lieberman, or all three collectively, sent to EPA tobe analyzed or modeled within the past month. This includes requests fromstaffers working for Senators Kerry, Graham, or Lieberman. Colloquially, thisdraft legislation is known as the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate bill andvarious media sources (including the Washington Post, L.A. Times and Politico)have reported draft legislation has been sent to EPA to be modeled.

As President Obama has emphasized, “a democracy requiresaccountability, and accountability requires transparency,” and “the Freedom ofInformation Act . . . is the most prominent expression of a profound nationalcommitment to ensuring open Government.” Accordingly, the President hasdirected that FOIA “be administered with a clear presumption: In the face ofdoubt, openness prevails” and that a “presumption of disclosure should beapplied to all decisions involving FOIA.”

To view the entire FOIA request, click HERE.

Updated 4/30/10: AEA submitted a FOIA request to the Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (EIA) in addition to the EPA FOIA request.

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Washington, DC – The American Energy Alliance(AEA), a non-profit organization that educatesand engages the public on benefits ofmarket-based energy policy, today congratulated Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)for siding with his constituents and opting out of one of the most economicallydamaging pieces of legislation this country has ever seen.

“Senator Graham has spent nearly six and a halfmonths negotiating behind closed doors with big business, special interests andrent-seeking lobbyists to increase the price of 85 percent of the energyAmericans use daily,” said Thomas J. Pyle, president of AEA. “And the Senatorshould be congratulated today for apparently backing out of this job killinglegislation.”

AEA was the firstorganization to launch a comprehensive media campaign in South Carolina shortlyafter Senator Graham announced his intentto draft a national energy tax with Senator John Kerry(D-Mass.). This campaign, which ranstatewide, was the beginning of a multi-pronged strategyto educate Palmetto State voters on the negative economic impacts such a planwould have on their state. This proposal, while not yet revealed publicly, was reported to have included a renewable electricity standard (RES), which is themandated use of expensive forms of electricity and a increase in the federalgasoline and diesel tax, which some have coined the “Graham Gas Tax.”

“By walking away from this effort, it is clearthat Senator Graham chose to listen to his constituents, who urged him to stayaway from this legislation. We hope that Senator Graham sticks to his guns andremains on the side of the American people who oppose cap-and-trade and anational energy tax,” concluded Pyle.

More on AEA’s efforts in South Carolina:

Press Release: RadioCampaign Seeks to Educate South Carolina Voters on Consequences ofCap-and-Trade

Media Alert: Inthe Crosshairs: AEA Launches another TV Ad in SC focused on Sen. Graham’sCap-and-Trade Support

Graham’s World vs. Real World: Sen.Graham Cap-and-Tax Double Talk Continues

Thirteen Senators Seek to Shut Down U.S. Coal Industry

Washington, DC – According to reports , thirteen U.S. senators today urged Majority Leader Reid and the leading authors of global warming legislation, Senators Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman, to specifically grant the EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, in addition to other provisions included the bill, such as cap-and-trade and a renewable electricity mandate, which would also target coal-fired plants. Thomas J. Pyle, president of the non-partisan American Energy Alliance (AEA), released the following statement in response to the senators’ letter :

“This is just another in a long line of heavy-handed attempts to increase the government’s control over energy markets. If the signatories of this letter, clear opponents of affordable and reliable energy, really believed in the efficacy of “pricing carbon,” heavy-handed legislation would be more than enough to meet their goals.

“Apparently, it is not enough to make the price of electricity necessarily “skyrocket” through cap-and-trade legislation or a federal renewable mandate. It seems the real objective of these policymakers is to destroy the coal industry while hiding behind the EPA, an unelected bureaucracy. If these anti-energy advocates are successful in killing the coal industry, they’ll take with it affordable, reliable domestic energy and countless American jobs. EPA should be held accountable by Congress, not empowered by them.”

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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.