• According to the EIA, the average price of gasoline (all grades) as of June 22, 2009 was $2.69 per gallon, including taxes. The average price of diesel on the same date was $2.61.
• The Waxman-Markey bill has the potential to cause gasoline and diesel prices to increase significantly which will hurt consumers and our economy.
• In one of the only analyses of the Waxman-Markey bill, the Heritage Foundation said inflation-adjusted gasoline prices would rise by 74 percent and more than 1.1 million jobs would be destroyed a year. This would be the largest gasoline tax increase in U.S. history and at today’s prices would send pump prices above $4 a gallon within the first years.
• The Heritage analysis also said the typical American family of four would see its direct energy costs rise by more than $1,500 per year. The Heritage Foundation analysis found that the bill would reduce aggregate gross domestic product by $9.6 trillion by 2035.
• An increase in fuel prices not only harms families and individual drivers at the pump, but can have a devastating impact on any good or product that is transported by truck, meaning nearly everything.
• In the May 2009 committee markup, an amendment to sunset the Act should the average price of gasoline break $5 failed on a mostly party-line vote. If the Democrats think this bill will have little effect on prices, why would they vote against such an amendment?
