Earl Pomeroy’s Statement on His Vote Against the Cap and Trade Tax
Last week, Rob’s Congressman, Earl Pomeroy, voted against the Cap and Trade Tax. I don’t often agree with Pomeroy. In general I think he does what Nancy Pelosi tells him to do.
But in this case Earl Voted correctly. Good job! If I can bash him when he does something I disagree with I ought to thank him when he votes correctly.
I am concerned about the prospects that North Dakotans may face significantly higher electricity rates under the proposed cap and trade provisions. As you well know, North Dakota winters are long and cold, and require us to use substantial amounts of energy to heat our homes. We rank fourth in the country in energy consumption per capita, and over 90 percent of the electricity we use comes from coal-fired plants. So, major increases in electricity rates will hit us especially hard.
In addition, our state has a large coal industry, which provides 28,000 direct and indirect jobs. The House climate change bill sets unrealistic emission reduction targets that would likely cause a major switch from coal to other, more expensive fuel sources. This would lead not only to higher energy costs for North Dakotans, but also increased unemployment from the potential closing of coal mines and coal-fired power plants.
I’m sure that some may question why he voted this way. From where I sit a vote the right way is a good thing no matter what.
