Today the U.S. House of Representatives will likely approve one of the most crushing tax increases to American consumers in history– a hidden energy tax called "Cap and Trade." The purpose of this bill, according to an editorial in The Wall Street Journal is to enact a "cap on [the] total amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally. Companies then buy or sell permits to emit CO2. The cap gets cranked down over time to reduce total carbon emissions." Its fundamental purpose is to impose higher costs on electricity and gasoline so that American consumers use less. But more likely this bill will create fewer jobs as the cost of doing business in the U.S. dramatically increases each year that this law is in effect.

The importance of maintaining a safe and clean environment is one of the few issues most Americans agree upon. The Democrats who have super-charged this bill through the House prey upon our concerns for our natural resources. And they also understand that most Americans can't afford or don't want to pay any additional taxes. Thus, their leadership rushed this bill through the House, repeating the mantra that cap and trade legislation will cost the average American no more than the cost of a single postage stamp per day-- and it will have a dramatic effect in their efforts to clean up our air.

This isn't a new idea -- it's been tried elsewhere but the effects have been the same: consumer prices rise and jobs are lost.

Facts are stubborn things. And every Minnesotan should learn these facts before this bill becomes law. Members of Congress will be back in Minnesota next week during the Fourth of July recess. Here's your chance to ask some tough questions – before it's too late.

Fact: Members of Congress have repeatedly downplayed the true cost of cap and trade legislation. When the tougher restrictions outlined in this legislation become effective in 2020, it will dramatically increase the price of gas and electricity in America. According to The Heritage Foundation, this climate change bill will cost an average family of four $426 in new taxes in 2012. That figure will dramatically increase in the year 2035 to $1,241 when even tougher restrictions on emissions are put into place.

Fact: Regressive energy taxes like this one hurt senior citizens, the poor and the unemployed the most. Most Members of the House won't have read the 1,201 page bill that they're voting on today. But experts on energy policy that have followed this legislation have issued dire warnings about the dramatic loss of personal income that climate change schemes like this will have. Minnesota will be hit particularly hard. For example, in Congressman Keith Ellison's Minneapolis district alone, experts estimate that in 2012, the loss in personal income due to this legislation will equal $426 million. The economic loss will be felt through the loss of manufacturing jobs and increased costs associated with utilities. This bill will kill jobs in Minnesota, period. Nationwide, experts predict that the U.S. may lose over one million jobs to other countries due to cap and trade legislation.

Fact: Cap and Trade sponsors, Congressmen Henry Waxman and Edward Markey and the leadership in the House know that they must pass this bill quickly. The longer the delay, the more consumers will learn about its dramatic effects on our struggling economy. The leadership in Washington has vowed to pass this bill no matter how dramatic a cost this will impose on the unemployed – not to mention its lasting effect on the rest of us who are struggling to survive the worst economy in decades. They are so desperate in D.C., in fact, that they defeated amendments to this bill that would have suspended the law should gasoline surpass $5 per gallon or electric rates rise 10% -- or if the unemployment rate hits 15%.

This bill isn't about protecting the environment – it's a tax and one of the largest tax increases ever imposed on Americans.

During these difficult economic times, it's become apparent that Washington can do very little to create jobs or stimulate the economy. After throwing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars towards our nation's growing economic problems, we've only seen matters get worse. If Congress approves cap and trade legislation, we can be sure of one thing: that elected officials are more worried about Washington special interests than our nation's best interest.