LORTON – The Ed Gillespie for Senate campaign today released a new TV ad: Price on Carbon. The ad contrasts Mark Warner’s policy goal of taxing carbon with Ed Gillespie’s plan to unleash American energy and create good-paying jobs. The ad is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvaPqq217Vw&feature=youtu.be
Speaking about the new ad, Campaign Manager Chris Leavitt said, “Ed Gillespie’s economic growth agenda would lower the cost of energy and create good-paying jobs, while Mark Warner’s energy policy goal in the Senate has been to tax carbon, which would raise electric bills and kill Virginia jobs. Voters will have a clear choice in November.”
Price on Carbon
Mark Warner: That directly through a carbon tax or indirectly through cap and trade, we are going to put a price on carbon.
VO: Mark Warner and President Obama want to tax coal, which would kill thousands of good paying Virginia jobs in our communities.
Ed Gillespie: The Obama Warner anti-coal agenda will raise electric bills, devastate the local economy, and kill thousands of good-paying Virginia jobs. I’ll fight any coal tax. My plan will grow our economy by lowering the cost of energy and creating good-paying jobs.
Background:
On June 2 this year, when the White House released new restrictions on coal plants, Mark Warner stated that, “I’m going to be looking to look at the rules, and then specifically look at the comments,” after he expressed gratitude for an extension of the comment period until after his election.
That same day, Ed Gillespie said, “They’re trying to do by executive fiat what they weren’t able to get done by legislation. And the reason they weren’t able to get it done by legislation is because legislators understood the impact it was going to have on consumers.
“Energy prices will go up as a result of this policy, prices at the pump, in-home heating oil, and electric bills. It’s going to have a very negative impact on economic growth and disposable income.”
Mark Warner listed “cap and trade” as his long-term energy solution on his 2008 campaign website.
As a Senator, Mark Warner made the case for putting a price on carbon, saying, “The most significant thing we can do is send the market signal that either directly through a carbon tax or indirectly through Cap and Trade, we are going to put a price on carbon.”
Senator Warner has acted on his support for a carbon tax, voting against requiring a supermajority in the Senate to pass a carbon tax last year. Eight of his fellow Senate Democrats broke ranks to require the supermajority, but Warner toed the party line.
As a White House advisor, Ed Gillespie opposed cap and trade.
Mark Thiessen, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, wrote in The Washington Post, “I worked closely with Gillespie in the White House, and he was a forceful champion for conservative policies in the Bush administration. When some White House advisers tried to get President Bush to support cap and trade, Gillespie stopped it cold.”
Peter Baker wrote in his book Days of Fire regarding Ed’s opposition to cap and trade, “He felt strongly enough to bring his concerns to Bush in a one-on-one conversation.”
In 2010 on Meet the Press, Ed Gillespie spoke forcefully against anti-jobs policies supported by Senator Mark Warner, including cap and trade and the carbon tax, saying, “In terms of the economy, if you’re an employer, how are you going to hire right now when you don’t know what the impact of this health care mandate is going to be and the cost on your premiums? How are you going to hire, if you’re not sure that there’s going to be an increased cost of energy because of a carbon tax or a cap and trade bill? How are you going to hire when you don’t know if you’re going to be able to have your carried interest financing if you’re a small business owner? How are you going to invest if you’re an investor when you think your capital gains taxes are going to go up and your dividends are going to go up and if you’re a small business owner, you’re going to get hit with a tax increase too? No wonder the economy is stagnant.”
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