Many families forced to pay more than $1,300 in higher energy costs

  

 

FACT:            Peter Orszag , former CBO Director and current OMB Director, has verified that energy taxes designed to decrease carbon emission, like those in the President’s budget, will be passed on to American families.

FACT:             As CBO Director, Mr. Orszag testified to the Ways and Means Committee on September 18, 2008, that “decreasing emissions would also impose costs on the economy – much of those costs will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices for energy and energy intensive goods.”

FACT:             Director Orszag’s written testimony stated that the average annual household cost was $1,300 for a 15% cut in CO2 emissions (80% less than the cut sought in President Obama’s budget).

FACT:             If a 15% cut in CO2 will cost families on average $1,300 per year, then the 83% cut targeted by President Obama’s energy tax will be dramatically more expensive for employers and families.

FACT:             The Administration states the ‘Make Work Pay’ credit is designed to offset higher energy costs.  However, even if a family received the full $800 maximum credit, the OMB Director’s testimony confirms that families will pay at least $500 per year above and beyond their ‘Make Work Pay’ credit in out-of-pocket higher energy costs.

FACT:             Many families would bear the full burden of the entire $1,300-plus in higher energy costs, since retirees, the unemployed and college students are not eligible for the Make Work Pay Credit.

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