Assembly Democrat Global Warming Bill to Put 43,000 out of Work

Rep. Garthwaite has long been a supporter of legislation that would increase fuel and energy prices in order to reduce greenhouse gas production in Wisconsin. He's campaigned on it and is even on record as having voted in support of one radical proposal, 2006 Assembly Bill 157.

Now Assembly Democrats are promoting a new bill that they call the "Clean Jobs Act." The 174 page bill, which oddly never mentions "clean jobs," not even once, makes wholesale changes to the way Wisconsin produces and uses energy.

According to a study commissioned by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and conducted by the non-partisan, independent Beacon Hill Institute, AB 649 will have dramatically negative consequences on Wisconsin's unemployment numbers and on our quality of life.

The Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald explained why in a recent editorial in the Baraboo News Republic where he refuted one of the bill's supporters, Democrat Rep. Fred Clark:

Manufacturers depend on reliable and affordable electricity to make their products. In Wisconsin, they already pay some of the highest costs for electricity in the Midwest. The cornerstone of Rep. Clark’s global warming legislation is a new mandate that utilities produce 25 percent of their electricity from renewable resources by 2025. Utilities are already struggling to meet a modest, but important 10 percent renewable standard passed by environmentally conscious Republicans in 2005. To comply with a 25 percent mandate, utilities would have to spend approximately $15 billion more to convert from cheap energy sources to less efficient renewable sources. A significant portion of that cost will be paid for by Wisconsin’s manufacturers. Those billions that could be spent on expanding and hiring new employees will instead be eaten up by costlier electricity.

Though debatable in boom years, Rep. Clark’s proposed mandate is an unequivocal job killer during a recession.

The global warming bill will also cost the Average Joe more, about $1,000 more each year according to the economists at Beacon Hill. It calls for tripling of the "Public Benefits" fee on your utility bill. The aforementioned utility price increases will cause up to 30 percent hikes in the average family’s heating and electricity bills. It also calls for a Wisconsin-specific fuel standard that will ban or restrict the use of several cheap sources of gasoline. According to the Virginia-based George C. Marshall Institute, the new fuel standards in Rep. Clark’s bill will increase the price of a gallon of unleaded regular by $0.61.

In addition to higher prices at the pump, this bill actually makes automobiles more expensive to buy. Rep. Clark’s bill mandates that each car sold in Wisconsin meet California’s Low Emission Vehicle standard. If enacted, this will drive up the price of the average car by $968 with an annualized cost to Wisconsin consumers of more than $350 million.

To put it simply, Garthwaite's Democrat colleges in Madison are pushing a proposal, which he has supported at least in concept, that will:

1. Put 43,000 employees out of work
2. Increase Utility Bills by 30%
3. Increase gas prices by $.61/gallon
4. Increase the price of new cars by nearly $1,000

Garthwaite has yet to take a stand against his Democrat Madison leadership on any significant legislation this session. Hopefully he will on this deeply troubled piece of legislation.