Americans for Prosperity's Tim Phillips issued the following the statement following House passage (219 to 212) of H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade tax:

While cap-and-trade passed the House, it's a testament to the power of free market activists that it was a difficult, down-to-the-wire, tough fight. This bill, Speaker Pelosi's top priority, was supposed to sail through. Instead, it crawled through and barely made it across the finish line in the House. It took all the efforts of the White House to do it when the bill stalled a couple of days ago.

The bipartisan opposition to this bill shows just how broadly it will negatively impact the country. While some members’ votes were won with backroom deals and special interest carve outs, it is instructive to see that some commonsense Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with most Republicans, and they deserve our thanks. On the other hand, we are committed to holding the members of Congress who sided with Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi, instead of with hard-working taxpayers, accountable.

Cap-and-trade is a massive new tax on American families and American businesses. It's especially crazy to pass such a huge new tax burden at a time when many families already face economic hardship.

Fortunately, we have always believed the place to kill this bill is the U.S. Senate. We will do everything we can to educate the public about the danger that this legislation poses for their family budgets and their economic freedom and we will help the voices of millions of grassroots activists be heard on this issue.

If the American people understand what this bill does, it will die in the Senate.