NRCC: Zack Space Willing to Send Ohio Jobs to China

NRCC:

Washington- Rep. Zack Space (D-OH) is working with his fellow Democrats on the Energy and Commerce committee today on a climate bill that would impose new and burdensome regulations that could cripple the power and manufacturing industries in America, which could send good-paying jobs overseas, further damaging the already weakened economy in the United States.

During the debate today, Zack Space voted against an amendment that could protect these vulnerable American jobs from being shipped overseas to places like China and India. If companies aren’t forced to abide by the same regulations abroad as they would be here, U.S. companies could take American jobs overseas and re-locate their businesses in countries that don’t force these strict standards on their companies. This amendment seeks to provide a level playing field for American industries by ensuring that, in order for this climate bill to continue regulating U.S. industries, China and India must adopt the same greenhouse gas emissions standards that the United States will be forced to comply with under this climate bill.

“Zack Space put the needs of his struggling constituents in Ohio aside to vote in lock-step with Democrats to defeat this common-sense amendment aimed at protecting American jobs,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “What sense does it make to put struggling American industries at an unfair disadvantage in the global economy, virtually ensuring that good-paying American jobs will be shipped to China and India?”

Zack Space claimed that he was concerned about how cap-and-trade legislation would affect his constituents, but today, his actions showed otherwise:

“‘We cannot afford to abandon coal for the next few years, because it would put us at such a financial disadvantage both nationally and internationally, and it would be devastating for the state,’ Space said in an interview.” (“Democrat Space faces hard choice on global warming,” Columbus Dispatch, 4/26/2009)


There is no doubt that under this bill, American energy costs will skyrocket and families’ incomes and employment will plummet. There is no mistaking that this bill will drastically burden already struggle families with increased energy costs.

How much more can Ohio families take?:
Ohio already has a 9.7% unemployment rate
("Bureau of Labor Statistics, Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and selected area, seasonally adjusted, April 17, 2009, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/laus.t03.htm)

The average household in Ohio pays over 9 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity
(Energy Information Administration, Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government, Electric Power Monthly with data for January 2009, http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html)

7.4% of people in Ohio are past-due on their electric utility bills by about $224.02

22.5% of people in Ohio are past-due on their gas utility bills by about $1,061.09
(2008 Individual State Report by the NARUC, Consumer Affairs Subcommittee On Collections Data Gathering, http://www.naruc.org/Publications/2008%20NARUC%20Collections%20Survey%20Report.pdf)

Deep Concern over Increased Costs:
An overwhelming majority of Americans are deeply concerned about the drastic increase in cost they would bear as a result of the National Energy Tax. Seventy-seven percent of Americans said they are concerned that federal regulation of greenhouse gases could substantially raise the price of things they have to pay for.
(Source: ABC News/Washington Post; conducted April 21-24, 2009; Survey of 1,072 Adults Nationwide)

President Obama Even Admitted Utility Rates Would “Skyrocket”:
“Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket … that will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers …”
(President Barack Obama, Meeting with the Editorial Board at the San Francisco Chronicle, January, 2008)

A new study shows the devastating effects the National Energy Tax will have on the economy:

* Under cap and trade 1,105,000 jobs could be lost
* Peak-year unemployment losses could reach 2.5 million
* Gasoline prices would skyrocket by 74 percent
* Natural gas prices would rise by 55 percent
* Electricity rates would spike by 90
* The annual energy bill for an average family would increase by $1,500
* The federal debt would increase by 26 percent, or $29,150 additional federal debt per person
* Gross Domestic Product losses could hit $9.6 trillion

(William W. Beach, David Kreutzer, Ph.D., Karen Campbell, Ph.D. and Ben Lieberman, Heritage Foundation WebMemo #2450, “Son of Waxman-Markey: More Politics Makes for a More Costly Bill,” May 18, 2009)

View the text of the amendment offered by Rep. Mike Rogers here.