Cash-and-Kerry: Senate Version of Cap-and-Trade a Transfer of Wealth from Poor to Rich

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:

“Cap-and-trade is, at its very core, intended to significantly increase the price of energy. That increase—which amounts to the largest tax in U.S. history—will send jobs overseas, destroy small businesses and specifically force America’s lower income families to foot the bill. Make no mistake—no matter how many allowances are given away for free, or to whom, the ultimate beneficiaries are the corporations that are actively engaged in making backroom deals while the massive tax burden falls to the consumer.

“Perhaps most alarming is that much of the legislation remains blank as lawmakers attempt to negotiate details with corporations as the bill moves forward. With this, Senators Boxer and Kerry have essentially announced that they—and their rent-seeking corporate sponsors—are open for business. Those industries fortunate to employ D.C.’s best lobbyists will soon chomp at the bit to make the best deal for themselves, on the back of the American consumer.

“And that’s only the cap-and-trade portion. Though there is no end to the promises the bill’s proponents make or the future they claim it will bring, it is nothing more than 821 pages of mandates, taxes and regulations that will do nothing for this nation’s economy but ship it overseas.”

NOTE: AEA’s sister organization, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) released a study that outlines how and why a cap-and-trade scheme will unfairly target Americans who earn the least and allow those who earn the most to profit.