Cap-and-trade will do little to cut emissions, ATA warns
Oct 29, 2009 3:21 PM
Proposed cap-and-trade legislation will impose significant costs on the trucking industry and all consumers while doing little to reduce carbon emissions from trucking, American Trucking Associations (ATA) First Vice-Chairman Barbara Windsor said at a press conference on Capitol Hill.
“ATA strongly supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make this country more energy-independent,” said Windsor. “However, the proposed cap-and-trade system simply will increase the cost of diesel fuel while failing to reduce carbon emissions from the trucking industry.”
Windsor, who is president of Hahn Transportation in New Market MD, said the legislation cannot reduce carbon emissions in trucks because the trucking industry is not a discretionary user of fuel. Proponents of cap-and-trade believe increasing the price of fuel will encourage use of more fuel-efficient vehicles or alternative-fueled vehicles, but the trucking industry has no such options.
Windsor’s remarks followed the release of a report by US Sens Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Kit Bond (R-MO) that said a cap-and-trade policy like the one in the Waxman-Markey bill would asses $3.6 trillion in gas taxes on American families and businesses. This includes $1.3 trillion in diesel fuel taxes.
Visit www.trucksdeliver.org for more information about ATA’s sustainability program.
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