AEA Radio Campaign Seeks to Educate South Carolina Voters on Consequences of Cap-and-Trade

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.