Energy costs being bumped $2,000 per household

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Researcher says tax could be biggest levy ever in the U.S.

The vice president for an energy research center says the administration of President Barack Obama is working now on what could end up being the biggest levy ever in the history of the United States, a tax that is expected to cost $2,000 per household.

"The cost of all energy will go up, consumers and businesses and everyone who drives a car, heats their home, goes to a job that uses energy, will pay more, either through the loss of their job or the actual cost of electricity by almost $2,000 a year," said Dan Kish, the senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research.

Kish, who has more than 25 years experience on congressional committees, was interviewed by Greg Corombos of Radio America/WND and the audio of the exchange is embedded here:

He discusses how much revenue Obama wants from his proposal to tax carbon emissions and what that means to ordinary Americans.

Kish, who has worked as chief of staff for Republicans on the House Resources Committee, said the budget plan in Congress has "room" for the president's request for about $650 billion over the next 10 years in energy taxes, although he said the administration has been flexible on that figure, estimating that it could go as high as $1.9 trillion. "We might as well call it a tax," he said.