In Celebration of Cap & Trade Tax…

…or more specifically the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act Tax making its way through Congress at the moment, I thought we could post up some special quotes:

Senator (now President) Barack Obama, SF Gate Interview, January 17, 2008

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know – Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.? …? So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can – it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

Dr. Peter Orszag, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, now Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Congressional testimony, April 24, 2008

Under a cap-and-trade program, firms would not ultimately bear most of the costs of the allowances but instead would pass them along to their customers in the form of higher prices. Such price increases would stem from the restriction on emissions and would occur regardless of whether the government sold emission allowances or gave them away. Indeed, the price increases would be essential to the success of a cap-and-trade program because they would be the most important mechanism through which businesses and households would be encouraged to make investments and behavioral changes that reduced CO2 emissions.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, San Francisco Chronicle, January 22, 2009

I believe we have to [pass a cap-and-trade bill] because we see that as a source of revenue,” she said, noting that proposed cap-and-trade bills would raise billions of dollars by forcing major emitters to buy credits to release greenhouse gases. “Cap-and-trade is there for a reason. You cap and you trade so you can pay for some of these investments in energy independence and renewables.

Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Washington Post, April 2, 2009

He called cap-and-trade “the most significant revenue-generating proposal of our time.

-nick