Michigan Votes Forum

Does the EPA even have constitutional authority here?  Seems like there is serious potential for taxation without representation.

Senator Green's statement is as follows: 

 Last week in committee, we heard testimony from a special interest group that repeatedly supported EPA 

regulation of what this environmentalist called carbon pollution. First, as a farmer, I'm here to tell you that if it 

weren't for carbon dioxide, there would be no food on earth. All plants would die, all animals would die, and all 

people would die. Clearly, that environmental group doesn't understand the basic science of agriculture or life itself. 

In fact, there are about 100 people here right now in the Senate Chambers, and in one year's time, we 100 people 

will breathe out at least 34 tons of carbon dioxide. If we all led active lives, we'd breathe out over 200 tons of carbon 

dioxide this year. Now that's some heavy breathing. 

 We heard in committee about renewable energy manufacturing creating 290,000 jobs. Who will pay for these 

290,000 so-called green jobs if they ever occur? According to experts, the cost of gasoline will go by 50 percent, 

raising the price to over $4.50 a gallon at today’s prices. The cost of producing food will go through the roof. 

Electric bills will go up by 50 percent, the cost of natural gas by 75 percent, and all of this money that will no longer 

be spent in our communities but will be spent somewhere else. So the result--it's estimated that 2.5 million people 

will lose their jobs. So the EPA fires ten people in order to hire one person. That's who pays for these so-called 

green jobs. 

 According to the experts, the cost of buying and installing all of this clean energy equipment is in the ballpark of 

$120 billion. So besides laying off 2.5 million workers, the EPA would dramatically increase everyone's electric bill. 

Sound's cheap doesn't it? But that's a 20 percent to 33 percent increase in your monthly electric bill. In fact, even the 

EPA estimates that if cap-and-trade passes, the cost would be $1,200 per household. So low-income households, and 

single-mom households will be hit the hardest. The earned income tax credit isn't enough to pay for even half of the 

increased cost of the EPA regulations. 

 Folks, the EPA has declared war on the poor. Today, you get to choose which side you're on. If you want to see 

federal bureaucracies raise the electric and heating bills of all of your senior citizens and low-income constituents, 

then vote "no." If you support the working families of Michigan, then vote "yes" on this resolution. 

Senator Casperson's statement is as follows: 

 I rise in support of Senate Resolution No. 10 and Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 6. The resolutions are calling 

on Congress to stop the regulatory train wreck. These resolutions are being introduced by state legislators across the 

country. The resolutions call on Congress to stop the EPA from issuing burdensome rules known as the train wreck 

that will, in the words of the American Legislative Exchange Council, dramatically increase energy costs, causing 

enormous negative impact to jobs and the economy, irreparable damage to the competitiveness of businesses, and 

trample on the rights of states in the process. 

 The EPA knows that cap-and-trade is dead in Congress. Consequently, they have planned a series of major 

regulations--more than 30 major regulations and more than 70 major policy rules--that will achieve the same results. 

The EPA promulgated no less than eleven greenhouse gas regulations in 2010, seven of them in December, and six 

of them totaling more than 500 pages were issued on the eve of the Christmas holiday. They did not get published in 

Federal Register until the last two business days of 2010. 

 The EPA is not daunted by the number, cost, and impact on jobs. In fact, the EPA has not even done a study of 

what all of these regulations together will cost. As a sample of the impact, the Heritage Foundation reports that ten 

of the major rules that came out of the EPA in fiscal year 2010 have a cost of more than $23 billion. This is just the 

tip of the iceberg as to what is coming. So I rise in support of these resolutions.