{mosads}The ads feature a clip of Obama from the 2008 campaign asserting that, under his energy plan, “of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”
“Skyrocketing electricity rates means fewer jobs and a weaker economy,” a narrator says in the ad.
The NRCC is targeting Reps. Ron Barber (Ariz.), Dave Loebsack (Iowa), Rick Nolan (Minn.), Colin Peterson (Minn.), Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.), Pete Gallego (Texas) and Nick Rahall (W.Va.).
Cap-and-trade legislation collapsed in Congress in 2010.
With little chance of Congress passing a market-based emissions plan, the White House is now pressing ahead with a series of regulatory actions, but they also face GOP criticism.
President Obama unveiled a sweeping new climate change plan on Tuesday that would, among other things, limit carbon emissions from power plants, a move that industry groups have fought and Republicans charge will cut jobs.
It’s unclear, however, what steps Congress can take to limit his actions, as the president has pledged to work around Congress to initiate many of the new policies.
Lacking the ability to block the proposal entirely, however, Republicans still see an electoral opportunity, hoping that red-state Democrats will be hurt by an affiliation to policies they see as detrimental to the economy and particularly harmful to areas reliant on coal and oil production for jobs and energy.
Watch the Web ad here:
This story was updated at 8:14 a.m.
Ben Geman contributed.