YouTube - Rep. Dingell (D-MI): Cap And Trade Is A Big Tax

At today's hearing on cap-and-trade, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) bluntly admitted what most Democrats won't and that is that cap-and-trade is a big tax.

Gingrich: climate bill will punish Americans

WASHINGTON (AP) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says a Democratic proposal to limit global warming pollution will "punish the American people" with higher energy costs and lost jobs.

Gingrich appeared before a House subcommittee writing a broad energy and climate bill aimed at cutting greenhouse gases by 80 percent by mid-century.

Gingrich, a leading Republican voice who has indicated he may seek the presidency in 2012, criticized the Democrats' cap-and-trade climate proposal. He called it "an energy tax" that will increase Americans' cost of living and kill jobs.

EPW POLICY BEAT: OBAMA’S ENERGY POLICY CONUNDRUM

Clearly, not everyone in the Administration is on the same page. Depending on the day and depending on the Administration official, the coal and nuclear industries are stuck plucking petals off a daisy and asking themselves, “He loves us? He loves us not?” Not exactly the best political climate in which to make 40-year, multi-billion dollar investments about how to keep our lights on and power our economy.