Pew’s ‘Agenda for Climate Action’ Equals Higher Energy Prices for American Consumers
Contact: Jody Clarke, 202.331.2252
Washington, D.C., February 8, 2006—The latest report from the Pew Center on Global Climate is being touted as the ‘first comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States’, but is nothing more than an attempt to raise energy prices and take money out of Americans’ pocketbooks, says the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s global warming policy team.
“The interest of the Pew Center’s corporate clients is to make money on the backs of American consumers by raising energy prices, and from government grants and subsidies,” says Myron Ebell, director of global warming policy at CEI. “These selfish big business interests would hit the jackpot if the Pew Center’s policies were adopted. Consumers and taxpayers would pay the bill.”
Joining the Pew Center at the announcement of their plan were representatives from several energy and manufacturing companies, including Shell, BP, Cinergy Corp., Holcim Inc., PG&E Corporation, and the Whirlpool Corporation.
“Pew’s climate agenda is ‘comprehensive’ like the proverbial kitchen sink,” says Marlo Lewis, senior fellow at CEI. “It’s got all the usual ingredients—R&D handouts, mandatory GHG reporting, cap-and-trade, sector-specific efficiency and emission standards, renewable portfolio standards, etc. But there are no specifics, such as targets and timetables, to enable us outsiders to even guesstimate what it all might cost. In any event, nothing in the report even addresses the well-documented finding that the costs of such policies are likely to be out of all proportion to their benefits, if any.”
Global Warming Policy Experts Available for Interviews
Myron Ebell
Director of Energy Policy
202.331.2256 [email protected]
Marlo Lewis
Senior Fellow
202.331.2267 [email protected]
Christopher Horner
Senior Fellow
202.262.4458 [email protected]
Iain Murray
Senior Fellow
202.331.2257 [email protected]