Jim Inhofe: “As the former chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and now the ranking member, we have been very much…”

“As the former chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and now the ranking member, we have been very much concerned for a long period of time over what they are trying to do with cap-and-trade. All the way back to the Kyoto treaty and then through the five different bills that were debated on the Senate floor, we recognized the incredible cost to the American people if we were to pass cap-and-trade legislation. The interesting thing about this is the most votes that were in the Senate at any one time in order to pass cap-and-trade were about 30. Obviously it takes a lot more than that. So what this administration did was say: All right, if you are not going to pass cap-and-trade regulation--keep in mind what that is; that would end up being the largest tax increase in the history of America on the American people-- if you are not going to do it through legislation, we will do it through our regulations, through the Environmental Protection Agency.”