Niger Innis

Highlights social injustice of proposed climate change policies

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) announced today that they have joined the No Cap and Trade Coalition in the fight against cap-and-trade legislation and the proposed Copenhagen climate treaty. The coalition is comprised of over 30 state and federal public policy groups and think tanks and maintains a website at www.NoCapAndTrade.com.

Niger Innis, national spokesperson for CORE, will become a spokesperson for the No Cap-and Trade Coalition, helping to spread the message that this dangerous public policy will impede social justice, transfer wealth from the United States to foreign countries and potentially strip the United States of its sovereignty.

“CORE is committed to the coalition’s efforts to stop cap-and-trade as well as the Copenhagen treaty,” said Niger Innis. “This endeavor is a continuation of an almost three year effort that CORE has made in its national energy campaign – CORE believes that access to affordable energy is a civil and human right and will work with the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition to spread this message.”

“The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition is very excited about working with CORE and having Niger Innis as a spokesperson,” said Jeff Davis of Minnesota Majority, the coalition’s organizer. “We believe his message that cap-and-trade schemes will be devastating to all Americans, but with a disproportionate impact on the poor in this country, will resonate with all people, regardless of politics.”

On December 7, 2009, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will begin a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark where President Obama intends to consent to an operational agreement with immediate effect if the proposed treaty can’t be agreed upon. The treaty, or any similar executive agreements, could result in a massive transfer of wealth from the United States to third world countries, tax hikes, price inflation, job losses and more damage to the faltering American economy. A draft of the treaty includes establishing a new world government along with a world energy tax. Were such a treaty ratified, it could be a threat to the sovereignty of the United States.

If domestic cap-and-trade legislation were passed, it could result in a loss of 1.9 million American jobs in 2012 and 2.5 million American jobs by 2025. From 2012-2019, the CBO estimates direct government spending at $822 billion with revenue at $845 billion from taxes on energy producers.

The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition has launched a petition on its website at www.NoCapAndTrade.com and through it, has transmitted over 150,000 citizen messages to the president and Congress in opposition to cap and trade schemes. Member organizations have been independently working in the fight against cap-and-trade and the Copenhagen treaty and some are running advertisements to educate the public.

CORE plans to help the No Cap-and-Trade Coalition work with lawmakers to understand that only through the free-market development of technology and the refinement of conservation endeavors, can the United States achieve a sustainable energy policy for this generation and generations to come.

The website includes a petition that visitors can sign to express their opposition to the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill and the United Nation’s proposed climate treaty expected to be debated in Copenhagen this December. The group is also bringing a localized educational program to areas of the state, featuring the new global warming documentary film, “Not Evil, Just Wrong.”

The coalition’s website also includes a campaign to boycott 20 organizations that are supporting cap-and-trade. Companies that are part of the boycott include Starbucks, The Gap, e-Bay, Levi’s and Nike amongst others.

The No Cap-and-Trade Coalition consists of several non-partisan, non-profit Minnesota organizations who are concerned about the devastating impact a cap-and-trade scheme could have on American families and the faltering US economy. “We need energy to turn things around,” explained Linda Runbeck of the Minnesota Free Market institute, “a massive new tax on energy is the last thing we need right now. Cap-and-trade would be destructive to our economy.”

At the onset, cap-and-trade is projected to cost the average family over $1,700 per year in new energy costs, growing to over $6,000 per year by 2035. Independent analyses of cap-and-trade proposals project the loss of millions of additional jobs and trillions of dollars out of the nation’s GDP. “Cap-and-trade is a huge tax on everything,” said Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis.