FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8, 2009
Contact: Phil Kerpen or James Valvo (202) 349-5880

WASHINGTON-The free-market grassroots group Americans for Prosperity (AFP) today applauded U.S. Senator David Vitter for signing the group’s “No Climate Tax Pledge.” By doing so, Vitter joins over 190 lawmakers on the federal, state and local levels pledging to “oppose legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.”

“The one thing elected officials should be able to agree on is that global warming shouldn’t be used as an excuse to hike taxes on citizens and businesses.” said AFP Policy Director Phil Kerpen. “We encourage all of Louisiana’s elected officials and candidates for elected office to sign the pledge.”

Other Louisiana signers include U.S. Reps. Steve Scalise and John Fleming, State Sens. A.G. Crowe and John Smith, and State Rep. Henry Burns.

Federal cap and trade legislation took its first steps toward passage recently when the Waxman-Markey energy bill was voted out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. President Obama has made no secret of his support for a cap-and-trade scheme, which would amount to the largest tax increase in American history. One version of the scheme, introduced last year by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA), is scored by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office as a net revenue increase of $1.2 trillion within just the first 7 years the bill is in effect.

“Using the guise of climate change to transfer dollars from hard-working citizens to bureaucratic big government is unacceptable,” said Kerpen. “Regardless of their stance on global warming, this should be common ground for all of our elected officials at all levels of government.”

The pledge is available online at www.NoClimateTax.com. AFP does not endorse candidates. All elected officials and candidates are encouraged to sign the pledge and go on the record in opposition to using the climate change issue to increase taxes and grow the size of government.