LANSING, Mich. — Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, on Wednesday issued the following statement after voting against a series of partisan bills to further entrench Democrats’ radical legislation to overhaul Michigan’s energy policy and give Lansing bureaucrats power to overrule local government authority:
“Quite frankly, I didn’t think a package of bills so poorly constructed, so secretly concocted, and so adamantly opposed by the citizenry could muster the 20 votes in Senate and 56 in the House — but here we are.
“This legislation is jam-packed with state mandates that will make family electric bills more expensive and create the very real possibility that the lights won’t turn on when those families go to flip the switch. It will industrialize our pristine farmland — our Pure Michigan — even against the wishes of those who live on and tend to the land. These bills represent a destructive force of government from which generations of farms and families will never recover.
“State energy policy is supposed to allow for affordable, reliable energy to be provided to Michigan families. It is supposed to protect against blackouts and brownouts so grocery stores, hospitals, and dwellings can always provide for our communities. Instead, Democrats chose to go full speed the other way right into the arms of the environmental extremists, corporate left-coast donors, and an ambitious executive looking to build her far-left presidential resume — all at the expense of working Michigan families.
“It is clear why this Democrat majority silenced the citizens of the state who wished to testify on these bills, why they refused to work with willing partners on the other side of the aisle, and why they rushed this monstrosity so quickly through the Legislature. Democrats have continued to wield their slim majority as a weapon, and now struggling families and local communities will suffer even more from their big government energy mandates. They must now own this destructive, regressive energy future. We won’t let the people forget.”
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