Now that President Barack Obama has won re-election and begun his second term, he is free to pursue some of the goals he considered, but backed away from due to public outcry during his first four years.

A tax on carbon emissions such as those from burning fossil fuels including coal, oil and natural gas, reportedly is on the White House drawing board.

U.S. Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., has launched a pre-emptive strike against Obama on that score. He introduced a resolution opposing any proposed new carbon tax.

“A carbon tax would increase the cost of everything from driving a car to heating and cooling a home,” McKinley pointed out to our reporter. It would harm the economy, hitting the pocketbooks of both low- and middle-income Americans hard.

Obama’s war on coal already has hurt that vital industry badly. Within the next few years it will result in higher electric bills for millions of Americans.

Now he is considering a plan through the carbon tax to take even more money out of our pockets. McKinley’s resolution should be approved quickly in the House – then the U.S. Senate.