In a recent Manufacturing & Technology eJournal poll, nearly 20 percent of respondents said they would shut down their business because they couldn't handle skyrocketing energy costs that will likely come from a cap-and-trade energy bill that passed the U.S. House (see http://www.mfrtech.com/articles/2293.html).
Since the bill – which would impact an estimated 300,000 U.S. manufacturers – is heading to the U.S. Senate, we contacted Senators in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan to find out what they thought of our poll results and how they would handle the legislation. (update - various news outlets are reporting that Senate committee action on climate change legislation will be delayed until September, giving negotiators and their aides an extra month to work on the controversial legislation.)
Only Kentucky's two Senators provided any meaningful response to our request. Jim Bunning (R-KY) called the bill a jobs killer and said he would fight the legislation in the Senate (his response is in our original article) while Mitch McConnell(R-KY) offered a weaker statement opposing the bill (which can be seen at the end of this article).
Other Midwest Senators who failed to adequately respond include:
*Senator Sherrod Brown's (D-OH) office touted his legislation that would create a $30 billion revolving loan fund to help small and mid-sized manufacturers retool for the clean energy industry. In a statement, his office says Brown will “continue to fight for Ohio manufacturing” but never answered follow-up requests to comment on the negative effects soaring energy costs would have on companies.
*The office of Senator George Voinovich (R-OH) sent us a copy of the form letter they sent out to media in Ohio which criticized the current House bill and touted a bill he says he recently introduced, but never addressed our questions.
*The following Senators did not respond: Richard Lugar (R-IN), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
This statement came from the office of Senator Mitch McConnell(R-KY): "We have a responsibility to carefully consider the impact that this bill will have on the American people's pocketbooks. A national energy tax will hit everyone who flips on a light switch or drives a car, raise the cost of everything we buy and just might start a trade war with our biggest partners- all without making a significant difference in global temperatures. I think we should take the President at his word - under his plan, electricity rates would 'necessarily skyrocket.' So I hope we will slow down, take a deep breath, and carefully consider the consequences of imposing this new energy tax on the American people. We can address climate change by investing in new clean energy technologies, without harming our economy and sending American jobs overseas."
To contact your Senator about the cap-and-trade energy bill, call or fax the following numbers:
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Phone: (202) 224-2541 Fax: (202) 224-2499 E-mail http://bunning.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) Phone: (202) 224-4343 Fax: (202) 228-1373 E-mail http://mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) Phone: (202) 224-3353 Fax: (202) 228-1382 E-mail http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) Phone: (202) 224-2315 Fax: (202) 228-6321 E-mail http://brown.senate.gov/contact/
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) Phone: (202) 224-4814 Fax: (202) 228-0360 E-mail http://lugar.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) Phone: (202) 224-5623 Fax: (202) 228-1377 E-mail http://bayh.senate.gov/contact/email/
Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) Phone: (202) 224-6221 Fax: (202) 224-1388 E-mail http://levin.senate.gov/contact/
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Phone: (202) 224-4822 Fax: (202) 228-0325 E-mail http://stabenow.senate.gov/email.cfm
If you are not represented by any of the above Senators, visit http://www.congress.org to search for your senator's contact information.
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