Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander says the cap-and-trade bill passed by the US House of Representatives last month is too expensive.
Alexander says the bill designed to lower emissions through a carbon-trading system will only increase electricity prices.
“And if you want to build cars in Tennessee instead of Mexico or Japan then we need cheap electricity instead of high-priced electricity. And the clean energy strategy is clean nuclear power.”
The Senate will take up the issue when it returns from recess. Alexander says he’s continuing to work on another energy issue—that of mountain top removal mining. He says the issue should be addressed federally since it affects more than one state, but says he’s not getting support from other lawmakers in coal-producing areas.
“In West Virginia, they have a different point of view, but I’m getting strong support from Governor Bredesen…and the state is managing Tennessee at the moment in a way that doesn’t allow mountaintop removal.”
Alexander wants to prevent other states from dumping residues into Tennessee streams produced from this type of mining.