Sep
22
Written by:
Mark Lavergne
9/22/2009 11:49 AM
Before a gathering of chairmen, policy experts, environmentalists, farmers, and others, Gov. Rick Perry once again slammed HR 2454, also known as the Waxman-Markey "Cap and Trade" legislation, saying that if passed in its current form, it would amount to "the largets tax increase in American history," and calling it a "pending meteor strike on the Texas economy."
He called on Texans to contact their elected officials to express their disapproval both of the bill and of what he again alled the "activist EPA" [federal Environmental Protection Agency]. Among other concrete economic ills, he said that the bill would cause the price of gasoline to rise 41 percent, and that it would force many agricultural-based families to lose their farms. Hundreds of thousands of jobs would be lost in Texas in the coming years as a result of the legislation, he said.
Chairmen, policy experts, and even a farmer testified in agreement with Perry during the morning's meeting, which continues this afternoon.
Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said the bill would cost Texas farmers up to $5 billion, and force the nation to outsource agriculture. "We must not, we cannot become dependent on foreign food," he said.
Public Utility Commission Chairman Barry Smitherman cited a report in yesterday's Wall Street Journal that the provisions in the cap and trade bill would increase a typical electric bill $27 a month.
Martin Hubert of the Texas Comptroller's Office reported that 137,000 in Texas would be lost by 2020 alone under the bill, and Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken cited a study indicating that for every "green job" created, 2.2 other jobs are lost in the private sector. While President Barack Obama cites Spain as an example of the supposed successes of a green economics and "green jobs" creation, Pauken cited a study showing that the unemployment rate in Spain is 18.1 percent -- more than double the rate in Texas and nearly double that of the United States.