Coffman Still Focused On Cap And Trade

Coffman Participates in Bicameral Hearing on Cap and TradePanel evaluates legislation’s impact on jobs in the West

(WASHINGTON, D.C) – Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) today participated in a historic bicameral public hearing on cap and trade legislation sponsored by the House and Senate Western Caucuses. Western Caucus members from both chambers of Congress heard testimony from policy experts and key stakeholders on the specific economic impact cap and trade policies are likely to have on the West.

“Today’s hearing is especially important because the majority party in Congress has stifled open debate on the cap and trade issue. I have been extremely disappointed by this lack of transparency and the testimony provided today has painted a more complete picture of how cap and trade will affect our nation,” Coffman stated in his opening remarks.

When the House Democrats’ version of cap and trade legislation was brought to the floor for a vote on June 26th, Coffman voted against the bill. The Senate has yet to finalize or vote on their version of the legislation.

“While Congress and the media are largely focused on health care reform, the Democrats’ cap and trade legislation still looms as potentially the largest tax increase in our nation’s history. The West has absorbed the worst of the recession as evidenced by the regional jobless rate numbers from June,” Coffman commented. “What we heard today confirms that the Democrats’ current proposal would in essence be an economic double whammy on families and small businesses in the West. Cap and trade is the wrong policy at the wrong time.”

A complete list of witnesses is below.

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The Honorable Dick Armey, Ph. D., Former U.S. Representative and Chairman, FreedomWorks;·
Mr. Harry C. Alford, President and CEO, National Black Chamber of Commerce;·
Mr. William L. Kovas, SVP, Environment, Technology and Regulatory Affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; ·
Mr. Kimball Rasmussem, CEO, Deseret Power; ·
Mr. Phil Kerpen, Director of Policy, Americans for Prosperity; and ·
Mr. Ben Lieberman, Senior Policy Analyst, Energy and Environment, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.