More Americans are realizing what I have been hearing across the state of Tennessee, that an expansive cap-and-trade regulatory scheme would saddle Americans with a national energy tax and hurt American competitiveness. A new Pew Research poll shows that only 36 percent of Americans believe global-warming is man-made, down from 47 percent.

Yet the Obama Administration is negotiating an international treaty that sets unrealistic emissions standards and hamstrings American companies. Any treaty would require approval of the U.S. Senate.

The Department of Energy has stated that nuclear energy is the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions, yet this emissions-free alternative has been left out of the Democrats’ cap-and-trade bill. If we really want to take a global leadership role on climate change and carbon reduction, we must produce more electricity from nuclear power.