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Inhofe-Upton Energy Tax Prevention Act (S. 482) Resource Center

INHOFE-UPTON INTRODUCE ENERGY TAX PREVENTION ACT

Senator Inhofe on March 03, 2011 introduced S. 482, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011.  The bill stops the Obama EPA's back-door cap-and-trade regulations from taking effect, and thereby:

 - Protects jobs in America's manufacturing sector;

 - Protects consumers from higher energy costs;

 - Puts Congress in charge of the nation's climate change policies; and

 - Ensures that the public health provisions of the Clean Air Act are preserved. 

No More Back-Door Energy Taxes

"As the price of gasoline nears $4 a gallon, consumers can't afford to pay for the Obama EPA's back-door cap-and-trade regulations, which will inevitably mean higher prices for gasoline and electricity," Sen. Inhofe said.  "The Energy Tax Prevention Act protects consumers and their budgets." 

No Two-Year Delay

"The Energy Tax Prevention Act stops cap-and-trade regulations from taking effect-once and for all," Inhofe continued.  "A two-year delay won't help our economy grow or help those searching for work.  It does nothing to alleviate the uncertainty plaguing businesses all across America.  Simply put, EPA's cap-and-trade regime is bad policy that must be stopped."

Takes Power Away from Unelected Bureaucrats

"The Energy Tax Prevention Act also imposes accountability.  It takes power away from unelected bureaucrats and puts it where it belongs: in Congress, where the people can and should decide the nation's climate change policy."

Stops Distortion of Nation's Clean Air Law

The Energy Tax Prevention Act leaves all of the essential provisions of the Clean Air Act intact, ensuring that Americans will be protected from pollution that has direct public health impacts.  It also prevents EPA from twisting the Clean Air Act into a bureaucratic obstacle to growth and expansion.  "I recognize the tremendous strides businesses and communities have made in reducing air pollution, and I stand ready to modernize the Clean Air Act to make even greater strides in improving public health.  But imposing energy taxes through EPA's cap-and-trade regulations and blocking expansion won't make Americans healthier-it will only mean fewer jobs, a higher cost of living, and less growth and innovation."

Link to S. 482, the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011  

Link to List of Organizations Supporting the Upton-Inhofe Energy Tax Prevention Act  

Link to Fact Sheet on the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011  

Link to Upton-Inhofe One Pager

Link to Upton-Inhofe Section by Section Summary

Link to Upton-Inhofe Myth vs. Fact

Get the Facts...

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

THE COMMON THEME: STOP EPA

THE ROCKEFELLER AMENDMENT DELAYS JOBS AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY

BAUCUS AMENDMENT: NO PROTECTION FOR FARMERS, CONSUMERS, SMALL BUSINESSES

DO AWAY WITH A TWO-YEAR DELAY

EPA WILL RAISE GAS PRICES

THE MYTH OF CO2 AND PUBLIC HEALTH

Supreme Court/Massachusetts v. EPA

Government Report: America's Combined Energy Resources Largest on Earth

Latest News...

Inhofe: A Real Gas Price Solution: Produce More American Energy, Overturn Obama EPA's Cap-and-Trade Agenda - Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, released the following statement today on the Democrats' plan to raise taxes on America's oil and gas producers, truckers, commuters, and anyone who fills up at the pump. Inhofe plans to introduce the Upton-Inhofe bill as an amendment to help remove a key barrier to producing more American energy. "One of the surest ways to unleash America's massive energy potential is to overturn the Obama EPA's attack on affordable energy through its cap-and-trade agenda," Sen. Inhofe said.

WSJ Editorial: Cap and Evade -Why do Americans hate politics? Consider last week's Senate spectacle on whether to rein in the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to regulate carbon dioxide. Democrats deliberately turned the votes into a hall of mirrors, with multiple amendments to dodge accountability. The maneuvering began after Republican Leader Mitch McConnell introduced an amendment that would have barred the EPA from regulating carbon. Congress has never given the EPA that power, and a Democratic Senate expressly rejected cap and tax last year. But Administrator Lisa Jackson's EPA has claimed that power anyway under the 1970 Clean Air Act and later amendments, even though Michigan Democrat John Dingell says that he and other co-authors never intended to include CO2 as a regulated pollutant.

Inhofe Applauds House Passage of Energy Tax Prevention Act

POLITICO Pro: Dems smack down Obama climate rules  - Angst over the Obama administration's environmental rules is reaching fever pitch on Capitol Hill, where even Democrats are looking to score points by smacking down the EPA. In a series of Senate votes Wednesday on measures to block or limit EPA climate rules, 17 Democrats broke with their party to support measures to rein in one of the administration's top environmental policy initiatives. Four went so far as to side with a GOP-led effort to nullify EPA's climate rules altogether: Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.  In the House, meanwhile, about a dozen Democrats are expected to join a near-unanimous GOP caucus to vote for an almost identical anti-EPA bill on Thursday. In what could be a test vote for final passage, 12 Democrats broke ranks Wednesday to vote in favor of the rule to move forward with the bill, introduced by Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (D-Mich.).

INHOFE PRAISES OVERWHELMING BIPARTISAN OPPOSITION TO EPA'S CAP-AND-TRADE AGENDA

LINK TO ROLL CALL VOTES: AMENDMENTS ON EPA REGULATIONS

Growing Coalition Supports Upton-Inhofe

VIDEO: Inhofe: Strong Bipartisan Majority in Congress Supports Stopping Obama Cap-and-Trade Agenda

Inhofe Op-Ed: Energy Tax Prevention Act: The Only End to Cap and Trade (Human Events) - The evidence is in: The Obama Environmental Protection Agency's cap-and-trade agenda is destroying jobs and decreasing domestic energy supplies. That agenda is slowing our economic recovery. It will mean higher gas and electricity bills for consumers.  Congress can stop this attack on jobs and affordable energy by passing the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011. The bill would stop EPA's cap-and-trade regulations, which are designed to make the energy we use more expensive.  They will also strangle economic growth. As the National Association of Manufacturers wrote, "At a time when our economy is attempting to recover from the most severe recession since the 1930s, [EPA] regulations, with no guidance from Congress, will establish disincentives for the long-term investments necessary to grow jobs and expedite economic recovery."

WATCH: Inhofe Speech: Ending the Obama Administration's Attack on Affordable Energy - The House of Representatives is moving legislation today to stop the Obama Administration's attack on affordable energy.  The House Energy and Power Subcommittee is voting on the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, a bill I introduced in the Senate last week.  My bipartisan bill has 43 Senate cosponsors. The bottom line of the Energy Tax Prevention Act is this: EPA cannot implement global warming regulations under the Clean Air Act, the very regulations that will pinch your pocket at the pump and drive up your utility bills.

LISTEN: Inhofe Responds to Obama's Energy Speech and Discusses Upcoming Vote to Stop EPA Energy Tax (03/30/11)

LISTEN: Inhofe Talks with Reid Mullins About Today's Senate Vote to Stop EPA Backdoor Energy Tax (03/30/11) 

LISTEN: Inhofe on the Steve Malzberg Show - Senate Vote on Ending Obama EPA Energy Tax Coming Wed (03/29/11)

National Journal: EPA Votes Will Put Some Senate Democrats on the Spot - Numerous Democrats up for reelection in 2012 will cast at least one vote, and perhaps as many as four, on President Obama's climate-change rules as early as Wednesday that will come back to haunt them on the campaign trail-no matter how they vote. Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Robert Casey of Pennsylvania, and a dozen or so other Democrats from energy-intensive states will face intense pressure from political opponents and interest groups on all sides.

Tulsa World: Inhofe on Dems Delay: “Time is Not On Their Side” - A vote on a controversial proposal by U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe to block a federal agency from regulating greenhouse gases was put off Thursday until after next week's recess.  "I am relieved,'' the Oklahoma Republican said, promising to use the next nine days effectively.  "Time is not their friend.''  Noting the expectation set by the Democratic leadership on the proposal, Inhofe said the vote was delayed because opponents were not sure of its outcome.  "If they knew they had the votes, they would have brought it up,'' he said.  Inhofe again expressed optimism about his proposal's chances to be attached to a small business bill but conceded it could fall short of the 60 votes needed for victory.  Expected to be approved by the House in the coming weeks, the proposal would block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases in response to climate change. Inhofe and other opponents of such EPA action predict it would have do huge harm to the nation's economy.

Greenwire: “The Vote Could Embarrass Democrats”  - But even if the McConnell amendment does not draw the needed votes to pass the Senate -- which it seems unlikely to do -- the vote could embarrass Democrats because many of their moderates will feel pressure to cross party lines to vote for the amendment to show their support for home-state smokestack industries that would be affected by the EPA rules. An additional source of embarrassment for Democrats comes from a member of their own caucus. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is pushing for a vote on his bill to prevent EPA from implementing its stationary source rules for carbon dioxide for two years. While Republicans say the Rockefeller amendment could provide Democrats from coal, oil and manufacturing states with the political cover they need to skirt the McConnell-Inhofe amendment, the Rockefeller amendment would also mean a second recorded vote on EPA pre-emption -- a situation Democrats may be seeking to avoid by delaying amendment votes until later in the month. 

PoliticoPro: “Senate climate vote not ready for prime time”  - For Republicans, this week's EPA standoff demonstrates that they are quite capable of forcing an uncomfortable floor debate on climate policy even though Democrats have no plans to bring up related issues through regular order. Inhofe said he planned to keep bringing up his anti-EPA plan as an amendment on future pieces of legislation. He also took aim at the Rockefeller alternative, calling it "a cover vote for those people who don't want to go home and say ‘I'm responsible for the EPA putting everyone out of business.'"  

PoliticoPro: Senate Dems scramble to defend EPA - Senate Democrats are scrambling to combat a GOP-led offensive against the Obama administration's climate regulations ahead of a possible Wednesday floor showdown. In a surprising move, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid signaled Tuesday he would allow a floor vote on a Republican amendment to nullify the EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered the amendment - authored by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) - to the small-business bill pending on the floor. The language mirrors the anti-EPA bill the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed during a daylong markup Tuesday. Now, Reid and other top Senate Democrats who oppose the amendment are looking for ways to kill it. And they may have a tougher time than they expected, given the momentum after the Energy and Commerce vote and anti-EPA sentiment among moderate Senate Democrats.  

TheHill: Upton-Inhofe Advances in House:  - Republicans on a key House panel approved a bill Tuesday that would permanently block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a 34-19 vote. The bill won the support of every Republican and three Democrats: Reps. Mike Ross (Ark.), Jim Matheson (Utah) and John Barrow (Ga.). It's the latest step forward for the legislation, which would prohibit the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources such as power plants and refineries. The bill, authored by House Energy Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), is expected to come up on the House floor in the coming weeks.  

National Journal: Inhofe Ready for Long Fight With EPA - If a measure preempting the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon-emissions regulations does not succeed as an amendment to a pending small-business bill, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., says he will not relent.“I may not get it today, but that is going to go on every amendment or every bill that comes up where it is germane,” said Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, on Wednesday. 

Roll Call: Moderate Dems in “Unsavory” Position  - The Environmental Protection Agency vote would be a tough one for some moderate Democrats, who would find themselves in the unsavory position of having to choose between the Obama administration and an anti-regulation Republican movement in Congress. The Kentucky Republican introduced the amendment Tuesday, and Republican aides have been grousing that no agreement has been reached to schedule a vote.  Further complicating matters, two Democratic Senators — Max Baucus (Mont.) and Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.) — want votes on their own EPA-related amendments if McConnell gets his. Rockefeller’s amendment would institute a two-year moratorium rather than a permanent ban on the EPA’s power to police greenhouse gasses. Baucus’ proposal would exempt agricultural producers and certain small businesses from EPA greenhouse gas regulations.  The Senate on Thursday afternoon suspended debate on the small-business bill and took up a three-week stopgap spending measure that Obama must sign by tomorrow to avert a government shutdown. The continuing resolution — the sixth of this fiscal year — would cut another $6 billion in federal spending. It would keep the government funded through April 8.  Thursday afternoon votes on the spending measure and a judicial nomination are slated to be the Senate’s final votes before next week’s recess.  

BNA: Murkowski on Rockefeller: “That Boat Has Kind of Already Left the Dock”  - Republicans who have lined up behind the McConnell amendment, such as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), said Rockefeller's alternative plan to delay the stationary source rules made little sense given that those EPA rules are already in effect as of Jan. 2.“The boat has kind of already left the dock there. Rockefeller's effort is in my opinion a little bit late,” Murkowski told reporters earlier in the day, adding that there is increasing support in the House and Senate for a permanent end to EPA's authority over greenhouse gas emissions. “If we say EPA should not be regulating, that's a statement that holds true today and it holds true two years” from now, which is why many Republicans want more than the two-year suspension proposed by Rockefeller, she said.

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