The American Trucking Associations said yesterday, May 12, it cannot support the American Power Act, the climate change bill introduced by U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman.

Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer, said the bill will raise the cost of gasoline and diesel fuel without significantly reducing the output of carbon dioxide by the trucking industry, which is a nondiscretionary user of diesel fuel.

The Senate bill would require refiners to purchase billions of dollars worth of carbon allowances that correspond to the carbon footprint of the fuels they sell. ATA said it believes the refiners then will pass this cost on to consumers in the form of higher fuel prices.

“While others might object to our characterization, the climate bill clearly imposes a tax on transportation fuels and reallocates revenue from that tax for nontransportation purposes,” Graves said. Only a small portion of the tax would go to the Highway Trust Fund for improvements and repairs to the nation’s highway infrastructure, he said.

Meanwhile, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association said the Kerry-Lieberman bill will have a tough time getting passed during an election year.

In addition, OOIDA Director of Legislative Affairs Mike Joyce said the bill ultimately will impose a tax on users of fossil fuels, such as truckers. “They said that the Congressional Budget Office would score this as not being a fuel tax, but about putting a price on carbon,” Joyce said. “Lieberman said this bill puts a price on carbon, and that means a fuel-tax is coming.”