Press Releases

Washington, D.C. (June 25, 2013) – Today, President Obama and his top climate change advisors released their latest proposals to circumvent Congress and play politics with the price of electricity. Congressional Western Caucus Co-Chairman Steve Pearce and Cynthia Lummis issued the following statements:

“As Americans face continued unemployment, high energy prices, and one of the slowest recoveries in history, the president is using the EPA to unilaterally implement even more regulations, challenges, and roadblocks to job growth in America," said Chairman Steve Pearce. “Congressional Democrats rejected his attempts at cap-and-trade because they were too radical, and put an undue burden on the working class. So, the President will now impose his will on those struggling to make ends meet.

“The President's advisors have publicly declared a 'war on coal'—the number one source of electricity in this country,” Pearce continued. “The European Union imposed a job-destroying cap-and-trade scheme that hiked energy prices and made the continent uncompetitive. Last month, the EU effectively killed the program because of its economic impact. The President’s attempts to force a similar policy on us will not create good middle class jobs. New Mexicans need jobs and affordable energy. We can, and must, protect the environment without the heavy-handed, job-killing approach we've seen from this administration. It’s time for the President to stop playing politics with our energy bills and our jobs."

“The President was cheered on today at one of the nation’s most elite Universities with a speech that catered to a crowd of the most privileged among us,” said Co-Chair Cynthia Lummis. “But the financial implications of that speech – a guillotine-style cut to the nation’s coal industry – on our country’s average citizens living paycheck to paycheck must not be forgotten. It’s those American families who will be left reeling from rising energy costs. It will be the employees of coal companies throughout the nation that will be facing unemployment lines.  The President is a self-proclaimed advocate for the poor and working class but his policies will only require tougher decisions for families budgeting at  the kitchen table as he forces Americans to spend more money to turn on the lights.  I don’t think anyone should still live under the illusion that this administration is fighting for the middle class.

“Electricity is security,” Lummis continued. “It is one of the most basic protections for a family. It’s abundant and affordable, and so easily accessible to Americans that we take for granted what it means to be able to turn on a light in the evening, charge your cell phone, and keep your food from spoiling.  If you’ve ever spent a few days in the dark because of outages, you know that reliable electricity is security. So consider for a second the consequences of cutting out of our supply that reliable, abundant energy source – the provider of over 40% of American produced power. It may be an old cliché, but in the case of coal and your pocketbook, you won’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”