Senator Blunt introduces amendment to protect Americans from a carbon tax

From Senator Blunt’s office

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) introduced an amendment  to protect American families from the skyrocketing energy costs and devastating job losses resulting from a burdensome carbon tax. To read the text of the amendment, click here.

U.S. Senators John Cornyn (Texas), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and John Thune (S.D.) co-sponsored Blunt’s amendment, which was filed to the unemployment insurance legislation today. In March 2013, Blunt also introduced an amendment to the FY14 budget to prevent a carbon tax.

“America’s most vulnerable families are the hardest hit by costly and burdensome energy policies like a carbon tax,” Blunt said. “Instead of burdening middle and low-income families with unaffordable home energy costs, we must take an all-of-the-above approach to encourage a more diverse, reliable, and affordable domestic energy supply.”

According to the 2009 Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey, nearly 40 million American households earning less than $30,000 per year spend almost 20 percent or more of their family budget on energy costs.

According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), manufacturers use one third of all energy consumed in the U.S.  A 2013 study by NAM found that the overall impact of a carbon tax on American jobs would be staggering, with a loss of worker income equivalent to between 1.3 million and 1.5 million jobs in 2013 and between 3.8 million and 21 million by 2053.