Congressman Pete Olson, speaking on a panel at the recently held Texas Energy Summit, said that Democrats in Congress have refused to allow a real debate of the Republicans’ proposals on energy, spending and other issues.

“They continue to deny us the opportunity to offer alternatives to the Waxman-Markey Bill. The cap-and-trade bill would have devastating effects on the Texas economy. It’s actually a cap-and-tax bill. The detrimental effects of such a bill are very real and would be felt in the first year it is put in place.”

Republicans developed a different version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454), an “all-of-the-above” version to provide energy independence, more jobs and a cleaner environment, he said.

Panelist Congressman John Culberson agreed, and predicted that, if passed, the Democratic-led legislation would be “very destructive to the economy and the oil and gas industry.” Small independents would shut down and the majors will move offshore, he said.

Congressman Pete Sessions said the Democratic-H.R. 2454 version contains “onerous regulations and mandates on the American people” that will “place us in an adversarial position” to achieving a cleaner environment.

Sessions referred to a report by Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, and the University of Texas’ Bureau of Economic Geology. The report indicates that, by 2012, Texas could lose between 135,000 and 277,000 jobs, gross state product could decline up to $20 billion and real disposable income could decrease by up to $15 billion. The comptroller estimates that the typical Texas family could spend an additional $1,136 next year on household goods and services.

Sessions said, “Another study estimates that an average family will pay an additional $1,500 for energy each year, which is about 4.3% of Texans’ per capita disposable income. All this because the cap-and-trade bill would require the U.S. to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17% of 2005 levels by 2050.”

He said the 83%-reduction mandate would put the U.S. on par with North Korean and Lebanese living standards.

Congressman Joe Barton calculated that the “cap-and-tax” bill would require a reduction from the current estimate of 20 tons of CO2 per person, per year, to about 2.5 tons.

He said, “If you are an adult male, you are using seven-tenths of a ton just to breathe. That allows 1.8 tons to do everything else. The proposed per capita CO2 is where we were in 1875, and it would mean no fossil fuels could be used in the U.S.”

He further noted that the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change model shows that the difference between a “do-nothing option” and “the radical no-fossil-fuels option” is about two-tenths degrees Celsius (four-tenths degree Fahrenheit) difference in global warming. “Is that worth two million jobs per year and a loss of GDP of up to 5% per year for 40 years?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Olson referred to the nuclear-energy section of the Republican version of the bill as “our renewed commitment to clean and emission-free nuclear energy.” The bill promotes new construction of 100 nuclear reactors during the next 20 years. “It offers a two-year fast-track approval program for power plant applications and proven, safe designs by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” said Olson.

Olson notes that nuclear is the only option for emission- and carbon-free electric generation, and said the Republican version addresses nuclear waste disposal, spent fuel rods storage and recycling. It also prohibits the Obama administration from withdrawing the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository application and promotes a study to determine how much spent fuel the repository could hold.

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