The EPA’s proposal to regulate carbon dioxide and other gases is a power grab orchestrated by radical environmentalists to help the President pass his reckless “cap and trade” energy tax that will raise energy and utility costs on every American family, and ship millions of American jobs overseas.

The President has acknowledged that his plan will lead to higher electricity prices by stating, “under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”

According to Peter Orszag, the President’s own budget director, the average annual household cost increase would be about $1,300 for a 15 percent cut in CO2 emissions which is 80 percent less than the cut sought in Obama’s proposed budget. Orszag testified before Congress last year saying that price increases borne by consumers are essential to the success of their “cap and trade” program.

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise has co-sponsored legislation (H.R.391) that would clarify that EPA does not have the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate Greenhouse gases, which they have never before had the authority to regulate. EPA regulation of CO2 would constitute EPA’s largest assertion of authority over the American economy.

As a member of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over national energy policy and The Clean Air Act, Scalise has said he will continue fighting to oppose bad policies that threaten our economy.

Rather than a “cap and trade” scheme that will raise taxes on American families and ship millions of jobs overseas, America needs to pass a comprehensive national energy policy that will further develop the technologies for renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, encourage more conservation, but will also expand our own natural resources including oil, natural gas, clean coal, and nuclear power.

Our national elected officials have failed us at every turn when it comes to helping us escape the bonds of energy dependency. At some point, those of us who send them off to Washington must hold them accountable … we must expect more. No, we must demand more. If we don’t, we still be complaining about “them doing nothing” when the last pieces of this once great nation crumble at our feet.

It’s up to us.