Al Gore heads to the Hill to push climate change bill

April 25, 3:58 AMDenver Weather ExaminerTony Hake

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Former Vice President Al Gore testifies on Capitol Hill in
Washington, Friday, April 24, 2009, before the House Energy and
Environment subcommittee.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Former Vice President Al Gore went to Capitol Hill on Friday to push for passage of a major climate change bill that would signal a major increase in taxes on industry and potentially harm consumers.  Appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Gore implored lawmakers to take action on reducing greenhouse gases but was questioned heavily on its cost to and impact on consumers. 

The bill which includes a cap and trade tax system in an attempt to limit carbon dioxide emissions has become a focal point on the current legislative session.  The issue continues to highlight a partisan divide with Democrats urging immediate action and Republicans cautioning that the science of manmade climate change is not settled and warning that the new tax system will cost consumers. 

Gore urged lawmakers to set aside partisan differences and work together.  "It is a challenge that this Congress must rise to.  I wish I could find the words to get past the partisan divide that both sides have contributed to. ... It shouldn't be partisan. It should be something we do together in our national interest."

In addressing the potential cost to industry, costs which many say business will pass on to consumers, Gore stated that he believed energy costs will actually come down.  He and committee Democrats believe that the development of green technologies will produce jobs and help to mitigate cost increases.  In his opening statement Gore said, “This bill will simultaneously address the climate crisis, the economic crisis, and the national security threats that stem from our dependence on foreign oil.”

Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax – and it’s a great big one.
- John Dingell (D - Michigan), 4/24/09 

Gore did not go unchallenged in his assertions however, including by at least one skeptical committee Democrat.  John Dingell (D - Michigan) pointedly called the measure an “energy tax” and reminded Gore and the panel of repeated failures of the European cap and trade system on which the United States proposal is based.  He said, “Nobody in this country realizes that cap and trade is a tax – and it’s a great big one.”

Former Vice President Al Gore urged passage of a climate
change bill but the cost of the measure was questioned heavily
by committee Republicans.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Republicans as well voiced not only their concern of the cost of the measure, but also questioned the science itself on which the manmade climate change and global warming theories are based.  Joe Barton (R-Texas) pointed to the fact that Mr. Gore often times resorts to theatrics to emphasize his point of view and said that Gore seems to blame every problem in nature on climate change.  Representative Barton told Gore, “The Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game in 10 years.  You didn’t mention that.” 

Barton further asked Gore to explain the cost of the measure but Gore instead chose to ignore him and not answer the question.  Rather, Gore held up a New York Times newspaper and went on to summarize how an article in it which said some corporations ignored their own research blaming humans for global warming.  When Barton again asked Gore to explain the cost, Gore again refused to answer. 

I know you like those cutesy anecdotes but this is not a cutesy issue.
- Congressman Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) in response to Al Gore, 4/24/09

In one of the more amusing exchanges, Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise questioned the science of the theory.  Frustrated, Mr. Gore retorted, “There are people who still believe that the moon landing was staged on a movie lot in Arizona.”  Scalise shot back saying, “I know you like those cutesy anecdotes but this is not a cutesy issue.”

Passage of this legislation will restore America’s leadership of the world and begin, at long last, to solve the climate crisis. It is truly a moral imperative. Moreover, the scientific evidence of how serious this climate crisis is becoming continues to amass week after week.
- Al Gore testifying before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 4/24/09

Undeterred, Mr. Gore equated the proposed legislation to such historical measures as the civil rights legislation of the 1960’s and the post-World War II Marshall Plan.  Gore called it “one of the most important pieces of legislation ever introduced in the Congress.”

House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) said that Republicans will offer their own proposal that would not include a cap and trade tax.  The measure is said to include calls to expand nuclear energy and to continue to find ways to capture carbon from coal-fired power plants.  He called the Democratic measure a "massive national energy tax on every American .... who drives a car, buys a product manufactured in the United States, or has the audacity to flip on a light switch."