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CAP & TRADE = $3.6 TRILLION GAS TAX FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES

CAP & TRADE = $3.6 TRILLION GAS TAX
FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND
BUSINESSES

Senators Hutchison & Bond Join a
Farmer & Trucker to Release Report

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As Democratic
lawmakers and climate change proponents continue to push cap-and-trade bills
through Congress, U.S. Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Kit Bond (R-MO)
today discussed and released a report, Climate
Change Legislation: A $3.6 Trillion Gas Tax
, which explains how the
proposals will levy a massive new national gas tax on American families,
farmers, workers and truckers.

           
“Cap-and-trade is a giant new gas tax on America’s families, farmers and
workers,” said Senator Kit Bond. “We should not increase pain at the pump
in these tough times.”

           “We
can improve the environment and economy through American ingenuity and
technological advancement, not with taxes and mandates that increase costs and
burden American families and businesses,” said Senator Kay Bailey
Hutchison.

The Hutchison-Bond report reveals how
climate legislation, such as the House-passed Waxman-Markey bill, will increase
the price of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, which is essential to farmers,
small business workers, truckers and air passengers. The report details how gas
taxes will affect farmers growing crops, workers driving to work, truckers
delivering goods and other businesses running operations. The report also
highlights that while provisions in proposed climate change bills intend to
reduce the impact of these massive costs, the impact is extremely modest and
leaving consumers with a $3.6 trillion gas tax bill.

During the news conference today,
Senators Hutchison and Bond joined Richard Cortese, a grain and livestock
farmer, and Barbara Windsor, owner of a Maryland-based trucking company Hahn
Transportation. They represent the small businesses and family farm operations
which will be hurt by the current cap-and-trade proposals. Many farmers and
ranchers like Cortese will share the pain of a $2.0 trillion gasoline tax and a
$1.3 trillion diesel tax.  Similar to Cortese and other producers, Windsor and
millions of truckers will also suffer under the $1.3 trillion Waxman-Markey
diesel tax. The Hutchison-Bond report illustrates how the new gas tax will total
3.6 trillion and affect all users of transportation fuel, directly or
indirectly.   

In support of the fight against the
Senate’s Kerry-Boxer and House-passed Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bills, the
Hutchison-Bond report is supported by a variety of farming, small business and
trucking consumer groups including the National Federation of Independent
Business, American Highway Users Alliance, American Trucking Association,
American Farm Bureau and National Black Chamber of Commerce. At the time of the
press conference, key details, which would allow for a precise calculation of
the gas tax in the Boxer-Kerry cap-and-trade bill, remained hidden.  However,
the Kerry-Boxer bill includes even more mandates than the House bill, which will
result in a larger gas tax on Americans.

RESOURCES:

Hutchison-Bond Report

Hutchison-Bond op-ed in the
Washington Times: Democrats’
Hidden Gas Tax

Organizations’ Letters
of Support