Third District Congressional Candidate Robin Smith denounced Monday’s announcement by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson that the Obama Administration intends to seize new authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant.
Ms. Smith said, "While the validity of data is drawn into question in defining the magnitude of effect, if any, of carbon dioxide on our climate continues, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared an 'endangerment finding' that greenhouse gases pose 'a danger to public health and welfare.
' This formal statement by a government agency skirts the legislative process that appears to put into motion the necessary steps to tax energy in America.
“It appears the Obama/Pelosi war on the working people of America knows no end. Having seen the American people soundly and rightly reject their 'Cap and Trade' scheme as a job-killer, the administration has now turned to implementing their latest assault on the American economy without congressional debate or approval.
"To add more taxes on our businesses while competitors like China and India have no such burden is ludicrous in a global economy. It’s especially astonishing that each of these nations will produce the majority of the increase in greenhouse gases, yet our own government penalizes the efforts that businesses have taken in good faith to improve our environment. Whether legislatively or through regulatory mandate, it appears job growth and creation is simply a talking point, not a priority.”
Ms. Smith noted her "long standing opposition to energy tax schemes that threaten job creation in an already faltering economy. I am proud to have been recognized by Americans for Prosperity as the candidate for Congress in the Third District who has signed the ‘No Climate Tax Pledge.’ I am committed to representing the people of the Third District in a way that promotes job growth, individual freedom and respects honesty in our public debate. The actions of the Obama Administration show they are more committed to their liberal agenda than putting food on the table of working families.”