Environmental extremists seek to impose an economically damaging “big-bureaucracy agenda” on the American people that would neither safeguard the earth or produce more energy former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the committee chairman, and Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, have introduced a draft version of the “American Clean Energy and Security Act” with a cap and trade scheme that has been the subject of intense debate.
“For the last thirty-six years , I have watched the anti-energy, pro-regulation, pro-litigation, pro-taxation environmental extremists label themselves as the only Americans who care about the environment,” Gingrich said. “These extremists would have you believe that to protect the clean air and water, biodiversity, and the future of the earth, we have to buy into their catastrophic scenarios and sign onto their command and control, anti-energy, big bureaucracy agenda, including dramatic increases in government power and draconian policies that will devastate our economy.”
Gingrich proceeded to outline an alternative vision for energy legislation that taps into American ingenuity and free market forces. Long standing American principles of individual liberty and entrepreneurship are consistent with a pro-environment agenda, the Georgia Republican observed.
“The truth is that there is a pro-American energy and pro-environment approach that is a better choice for our economy and our environment than the bureaucratic, litigation-focused approach of environmental-extremism.”
Details on Gingrich’s proposals can be found on his American Solutions web site.
Gingrich also credited Gore for calling attention to America’s lack of energy independence but suggested the vice-president’s prescriptions are off the mark.
“Our current energy import strategy is entirely a function of our own government’s anti-domestic energy policies,” Gingrich argued. “The United States government blocks the development of new energy sources and inhibits the use of existing energy and then explains that we will have a shortage of energy. It is an artificial, government imposed shortage not a naturally occurring phenomenon.”
