<div class="xtend"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A resolution<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>urging the President and the Congress of the United States to refuse to enact <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>cap-and-trade legislation that would negatively impact Americans by increasing the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>costs of goods and services and instead enact legislation that encourages states to <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>establish and develop their own renewable energy portfolio standards.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>WHEREAS, President Barack Obama has proposed legislation to the United States <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>Congress to implement a cap-and-trade emissions trading system that would establish a cap on <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var>greenhouse gas emissions, require those who emit greenhouse gases to purchase government <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>credits to offset emissions, and allow those emitters to trade or sell those credits; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>WHEREAS, companies that are required to participate in the cap-and-trade program will <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>ultimately pass the cost of participation in the program on to consumers. The Congressional <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>Budget Office estimates that price increases resulting from a 15 percent cut in greenhouse gas <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>emissions would cost the average household between 1.7 and 3.3 percent of its after-tax income <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>every year, with households in the bottom fifth of the income scale losing the largest share of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>income; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>WHEREAS, the combustion of coal produces more than 50 percent of the electricity <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>generated in the United States, with Minnesota receiving a large portion of its electricity from <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>coal. Thus, the cap-and-trade program will result in massive increases in energy costs for all <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>consumers because the cost to produce electricity from coal will be markedly higher. The <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>increased energy costs will disproportionately impact states in the middle part of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>States such as Minnesota that are more reliant on coal. The Congressional Budget Office has <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.22"></a><var>1.22</var>acknowledged that these increases in energy costs will effectively act as a regressive tax affecting <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.23"></a><var>1.23</var>every household in the nation, with a disproportionate effect on poorer families; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>WHEREAS, the proposed cap-and-trade plan will make Minnesota less attractive to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>businesses and further damage Minnesota's ability to attract and retain jobs in manufacturing and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>other sectors of the economy. Minnesota needs to position itself as a state that is welcoming to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>industry and does not act in a manner that is detrimental to its current and future employers; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>WHEREAS, the cap-and-trade program as proposed will result not only in massive windfall <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>of hundreds of billions of dollars for the federal government through the sale of emissions credits, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>but also in the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. The program ultimately will not result in the <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>overall global decrease of greenhouse gas emissions because those industries that emit greenhouse <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>gas, if they are able to do so, will merely relocate to countries with less stringent standards and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>continue to operate, and those countries are not poised to cap their carbon emissions; and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>WHEREAS, any proposed new environmental or energy legislation enacted by Congress <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>should promote and encourage new technologies such as zero-emission advanced nuclear power, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>biomass energy, fuel cells, and clean coal with carbon capture and sequestration with a goal to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>bring such technologies to market as quickly as possible. The regulatory, liability, and legal <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>barriers that prevent these technologies from being commercialized and deployed should be <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>addressed before any cap is imposed on greenhouse gas emissions; NOW, THEREFORE, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>and the Congress of the United States to refuse to enact cap-and-trade legislation that would <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>negatively impact Americans by increasing the costs of goods and services and instead enact <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>legislation that encourages states to establish and develop their own renewable energy portfolio <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>standards. <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>States House of Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.<br />
         		
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