00 CS FOR HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 45(ENE) 01 Urging the United States Congress not to enact Cap and Trade legislation. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS Senate Bill 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act is 04 waiting to be heard in the United States Senate; and 05 WHEREAS House Resolution 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 06 2009, has passed the United States House of Representatives and is waiting to be voted on in 07 the United States Senate; and 08 WHEREAS cap and trade legislation has been a presidential priority and is before 09 Congress; and 10 WHEREAS, while emissions cap and trade legislation attempts to minimize the 11 impact of environmental restrictions on industry by offering economic incentives, the 12 legislation would result in unnecessary regulation and economic interference by the federal 13 government; and 14 WHEREAS additional environmental regulation and incentive programs will hinder 15 the nation's free market economy, increase federal involvement in business, and mandate state 16 oversight; and 01 WHEREAS the United States refrained from ratifying the Kyoto Protocol in 2007 02 because of the economic hindrances that would be imposed on businesses in the United 03 States; and 04 WHEREAS the America's Climate Security Act of 2007, a less severe alternative to 05 the Kyoto Protocol, was rejected by the United States Senate in the interest of protecting the 06 United States economy; and 07 WHEREAS cap and trade measures make traditional electricity, heating, and 08 transportation fuels more costly through rationing, while generating hundreds of billions of 09 dollars in federal tax revenue from oil, coal, and natural gas production; and 10 WHEREAS stringent economic constraints threaten to drive industry out of the 11 United States at a time when our economy requires encouragement rather than hindrance; and 12 WHEREAS arguments for phasing out fossil fuel uses have relied primarily on global 13 climate calculations compiled by the climate Research Unit of the University of East Anglia 14 (CRU), the National Climate Data Center (NOAA-NCDC), and the NASA Goddard Institute 15 for Space Studies, on behalf of the International Panel on Climate Change; and 16 WHEREAS recent discoveries of fraudulent activities within these international 17 reporting organizations, which have concluded that the planet is rapidly warming despite 18 substantiated evidence of cooling over the last decade, have rendered the 2007 IPCC 19 Assessment Report 4 (AR4) scientifically questionable and unreliable as a foundation for 20 establishing public policy; and 21 WHEREAS the process of allocation for the distribution of emissions allowances in 22 the Senate Bill 1733 does not take into account the unique situation of Alaska relative to the 23 remainder of the nation, including its population, geographic size, and extreme climate, and, 24 as such, disadvantage the state as a whole; and 25 WHEREAS cap and trade legislation will have unforeseen effects on the economy 26 and on the livelihood of the citizens of Alaska; and 27 WHEREAS the economy of the State of Alaska relies on the responsible development 28 of our abundant natural resources, unburdened by superfluous regulations that are not specific 29 to Alaska's market and industrial character; and 30 WHEREAS Alaska is a major exporter of carbon-based energy, and receives more 31 than 80 percent of its unrestricted general fund revenue directly from oil and gas operations 01 and produces approximately 13 percent of the nation's oil supply; and 02 WHEREAS Alaska's refineries, which are essential to our economy and cold weather 03 fuel needs, are uniquely vulnerable to increased costs associated with cap and trade 04 legislation; and 05 WHEREAS prospects for the construction of an Alaska natural gas pipeline with the 06 capacity to supply affordable and clean energy to the state and the nation as a whole would be 07 severely damaged on both the developmental and delivery levels under cap and trade 08 legislation; and 09 WHEREAS the cap and trade program, as proposed in the American Clean Energy 10 and Security Act of 2009, will be fundamentally detrimental to the economy and to workers in 11 the state, by stifling economic development, resulting in potentially enormous job losses; and 12 WHEREAS natural resource development in the state, including refinery operations 13 and proposed infrastructure projects will be negatively impacted by limiting carbon dioxide 14 and greenhouse gas emissions; 15 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States 16 congress not to enact cap and trade legislation that would negatively affect Alaskans through 17 the elimination of jobs and increased costs for goods and services, and, instead, enact 18 legislation that encourages states to establish and develop their own renewable energy 19 portfolio standards; and be it 20 FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Alaska State Legislature supports measures that 21 encourage investments in technology to address carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas 22 emissions. 23 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of 24 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and 25 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of 26 Representatives; the Honorable Harry Reid, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; and the 27 Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the 28 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.