U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers Gives His Thoughts On Current Cap & Trade Legislation.

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Most folks across East Alabama are struggling to make ends meet in this economy. In addition to working to help create new jobs, Congress also needs to ask: how can we help keep the jobs we have?
Most folks are rightly concerned about the direction our country is headed, and are looking to Congress for answers.
With Alabama’s state unemployment rate at 10.4 percent, up from 5.2 percent this time last year, only a handful of the thirteen counties in the Third Congressional District are doing much better. The numbers indicate the pain.
So what can Congress do to help keep the jobs we have? For starters, it needs to do no harm.

Keeping our jobs also means not penalizing Alabama’s manufacturing sector. Just two months ago, the House passed the Cap and Trade bill without my support.
In its current form, this bill is a jobs killer for coal-dependent states like Alabama. The costs could be hundreds per family each year, and could increase energy rates for hardworking families and businesses alike that are already hurting.
Those increased costs could add to the challenges our manufacturing sector faces, and very well drive away many of the good paying jobs Alabama has recruited in recent years. It could make us less competitive with China and India, and further encourage outsourcing of jobs.