Trump Energy Tax Signed into Law
“Worst environmental bill” of all time offers no Energy Independence Day for Americans, who will see higher energy prices and lose access to public lands.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump signed the deeply unpopular tax and spend budget reconciliation legislation, enshrining into law the biggest utility bill increase in American history, ramping up of the attack on renewable energy production, and mandating vast tracts of public lands be leased for oil and gas drilling, logging, and coal mining.
Following is response from Manish Bapna, President and CEO of NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“President Trump just signed the worst environmental bill in generations.
“This is not ‘Energy Independence Day.’ The Trump Energy Tax accomplishes quite the opposite: forcing increased electricity bills for all of us, squeezing the fastest growing segment of the energy economy, and putting our energy grid under added stress. This is a bill twisted to savor what it should shun.
“The new law will force the biggest utility bill increase in history, kill jobs, and deter the fastest growing segment of the energy economy—all to fund tax cuts for America’s billionaires.
“If we are in an ‘energy emergency,’ as the administration claims, why would we choke off the cleanest, cheapest, and fastest-to-deploy sources of energy? That is exactly what President Trump and Republicans in Congress are doing with this new law: advancing the dirty fossil fuels of the past over clean, home-grown renewable energy that we need today.
“The fossil fuels promotion does not end there. The new law will force millions of acres of public lands into unneeded service for oil and gas exploration and coal mining—forever placing them off-limits to the public. This bill seeks shadows when the sun is brightest.
“People are going to be furious when they are stuck holding the bill for these handouts to powerful polluters and special interests—and the corruption becomes crystal clear. The broader impacts of ripping away health care and food aid from Americans in need, coupled with shrinking services from the Trump administration slashing budgets, all point to this being a disaster that everyone involved with will regret.”
NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC Indi\a Pvt. Ltd).