(Washington, D.C.) – The lobbying arm of the nation’s premier taxpayer watchdog group, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW), today urged Rep. Thomas Petri (R-Wis.) to vote “No” on H.R. 2454, the American Clean Energy Security Act, also known as the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. 

The group’s members have flooded Capitol Hill with 20,500 e-mails strongly opposing the bill and CCAGW today issued a last-minute appeal to its members in Rep. Petri’s district asking them to call his office.  The e-mails CCAGW’s members sent to Congress read, in part:

“What this plan really will do is place severe regulatory burdens on domestic industry that will ultimately drive up the prices I pay for electricity, gasoline, natural gas, and virtually every product I purchase that uses fossil fuels in its manufacture or transportation.

“What's more, the Waxman-Markey bill will hit me not only as a consumer, but as a taxpayer, as it significantly grows the size and cost of government.  By requiring the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a greenhouse gas (GHG) registry, create a GHG emission allowance transfer system, and set emission allowances from 2012-2050, this cap-and-trade scheme empowers bureaucrats to dictate virtually every aspect of commercial and individual energy use.  It also opens the door to the potential for political manipulation and corruption.”

“Rep. Petri had a 91 percent 2007 CCAGW rating as a result of his efforts to fight wasteful government spending,” said CCAGW President Tom Schatz.  “It makes so sense for him to vote for this bill.  Taxpayers are reeling from the realization that they now face an $11.4 trillion national debt and a federal government that is becoming an even more intrusive and expensive bureaucracy.  We urge him to vote against this bill, which will only add to the crushing burden on the economy and cost taxpayers, consumers, and businesses trillions of dollars with little to show in return,” concluded Schatz.

CCAGW is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.