Marco Rubio: In Search of A 100 Original Ideas

It's amazing how much Marco Rubio's Miami Herald op-ed mirrors an email sent out by the Dick Armey think tank Freedom Works.

Marco Rubio

Other estimates indicate that Kyoto-like carbon caps could result in electricity bills that rise from the current 8-cent per kilowatt average now seen in the United States to the 25-cent kilowatt average which burdens families in Europe. The United Kingdom alone saw a 14-percent increase between 2005 and 2006. Floridians already are paying too much in taxes and insurance. The last thing we need is higher utility bills.

Freedom Works

Armey accused Crist of ''pandering to radical enviromentalists'' and asked: ``What about hard-working Floridians whose family budgets are stretched to the limit because of high gasoline prices and skyrocketing home energy costs? For them, Crist's mandates will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.''

Rubio has also called Crist's proposal "European-style big government." When in doubt, Republicans mentions foreigners to scare the daylights out of voters.

I yawned when I heard Crist's climate change proposals. The details have been sketchy. Will these changes account for Florida's population growth? If the state's track record on growth management is any indication then the answer is no. The technology for alternative sources of fuel have been lagging. Partly because Republicans have been resistant to it. Energy companies are a powerful source of lobbying in Florida. Republicans were silent when Jeb Bush sign a bill to end emissions testing.

The Freedom Works argument about alternative sources of fuel becoming expensive is laughable and anti-capitalistic. Gas prices have skyrocketed while conservatives have repeated the same doomsday warming. The truth is they do not want other sources of fuel competing with gasoline. Competition would give consumers choices. Republicans aren't going to let that happen.