FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 3, 2010
Contact: Teresa Oelke (479) 531-9778 or James Valvo (703) 224-3200

ROGERS, AR — The Arkansas chapter of the grassroots free market group Americans for Prosperity (AFP-AR) today applauded State Representative John Burris (85th District) for signing the group’s No Climate Tax pledge. Burris joins more than 675 bipartisan lawmakers and candidates 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-AR State Director Teresa Oelke. “We encourage all of Arkansas’ elected officials and candidates for elected office to sign the pledge.”

Arkansas signers include: U.S. Senate candidate John Boozman; U.S. House candidates Rick Crawford, Tim Griffin, Steve Womack and Beth Anne Rankin; as well as numerous state lawmakers and candidates for state office.

Cap-and-trade took its first step toward enactment last year when the U.S. House narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey energy tax bill, which escaped the lower chamber by a scant seven votes despite significant bipartisan opposition. The Senate has struggled to pass companion legislation, with several key Democratic senators expressing opposition to passing the energy tax bill.

President Obama has made no secret of his support for the bill, which would be the largest tax increase in American history. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has scored the House plan as an $846 billion increase in federal revenue, a burden that will be borne by taxpayers and consumers for decades to come. Recent analysis by the Institute for Energy Research found the Kerry-Lieberman Senate bill would cost the nation more than 500,000 jobs by 2015 and decrease household income by over $1,000 by 2020.

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