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OK-Fallin coauthors resolution protecting Oklahoma's energy
03/03/2010 by U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin
(OK) Congresswoman Mary Fallin (OK-05) Tuesday coauthored a resolution preventing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from implementing what amounts to a job-killing national energy tax on carbon dioxide emissions. Fallin said the resolution was necessary to prevent any back-door regulation of carbon dioxide emissions. She called the agency's recent endangerment finding, which would make carbon dioxide a regulated pollutant under the Clean Air Act, a last-ditch effort to enact failed Cap and Tax legislation without Congressional approval."The EPA's finding is an attempt to pass a national tax on energy consumption without the support or scrutiny of the American people or Congress," said Fallin. "This ruling flies in the face of the top concerns of my constituents, which are job creation and economic stability. How can this administration ever expect to put Americans back to work if it keeps raising taxes and imposing mandates on job creators and consumers?"
Fallin said the EPA ruling added insult to injury for the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs since the stimulus bill was signed into law in February, 2009. "Americans know the answer to reducing the record unemployment rate isn't new big-spending programs and more burdensome federal mandates. Killing this ruling is a no-cost way to protect taxpayers against what amounts to a tax hike for families, small businesses and consumers."
"We can and should pursue an energy policy that preserves the environment, but the simple truth is that we can't regulate and tax our way towards reduced carbon emissions. We should focus on developing a comprehensive, all-of-the-above strategy that uses our abundant natural gas and fossil fuel resources as well as alternatives like wind, solar, geothermal and nuclear technology. Doing so will simultaneously create jobs in Oklahoma, reduce our reliance on foreign oil and decrease costs for all consumers."
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