Ciattarelli Slams Guadagno on Support for Job-Killing Cap and Trade Energy Tax
Ciattarelli Slams Guadagno on Support for Job-Killing Cap and Trade Energy Tax
Says Lt. Governor’s decision to side with Obama and Corzine will further cripple NJ’s stagnant economy and drive up costs for middle-class families
Somerville, May 11, 2017 – Successful entrepreneur and Main Street business owner Jack Ciattarelli today slammed Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s pledge to reinstate the RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) cap-and-trade energy tax as Governor.
“I was stunned to hear Lt. Governor Guadagno promise to bring cap-and-trade back to New Jersey as Governor, and with it drive jobs from our state right into the waiting arms of Pennsylvania,” said Ciattarelli. “I had to look around and make sure we were still at the Republican debate, and not the Democrat debate. Forcing New Jersey home and business owners to endure a massive new energy tax will further cripple our economy and make New Jersey an even less affordable place to live, work and retire. While decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is a laudable goal, a huge new tax on working middle-class families and businesses would be disastrous.”
The campaign also provided quotes from other prominent Republicans, including early Guadagno supporter, Senator Diane Allen, who have spoken out in strong opposition to RGGI since the early days of the Christie Administration right up through today.
“If we are going to nominate a Republican who embraces cap and trade, and the excessive taxes and regulations it brings with it, what does our party stand for anyway?” added Ciattarelli. “We need contrasts with Phil Murphy this fall, not a rubber stamp for bad policy ideas.”
State Senator Diane Allen (R-Burlington)
“RGGI drives up energy costs for consumers at a time when nobody can afford any additional taxes,” Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington), who recently signed on to legislation to repeal the initiative, said in a statement.
State Senator Mike Doherty (R-Warren)
“The decision to abandon RGGI has gained bi-partisan support, and support in other states, as the evidence continues to mount that the program is ineffective and expensive. From the outset, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative was a job killer. We can grow jobs and businesses and protect the environment at the same time without having to sacrifice one for the other.”
Conservative Activist Steve Lonegan
“I think it’s a very, very powerful move for Christie, and probably should lead the way for other states to exit, as well,” Lonegan said. “It’s going to spell the demise of a failed program that’s ineffective and nothing but a gimmick.”
Erica Jedynak, Americans for Prosperity
“RGGI functions as a tax on consumers of electricity, increasing electric bills for businesses and families. Instead of rejoining this harmful tax scheme, New Jersey should make its own decisions about its electricity system…RGGI is a cap-and-tax program that effectively taxes businesses and families for using electricity…Across all RGGI states, auctions have generated $2.6 billion in proceeds effectively meaning there has been $2.6 billion tax on consumers of electricity in the participating states. The Institute for Energy Research found that “electricity prices in RGGI states have risen faster than the national average—52 percent since 2005…”
Matt Rooney, Editor of Save Jersey Blog
“The objectively worst answer of the night? If I’m being honest…When the Lieutenant Governor Guadagno inexplicably declared she’d reverse Chris Christie’s wise 2011 decision and recommit New Jersey to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade carbon tax-style program that helped drive businesses out of New Jersey, including Ocean Spray.”
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