AMERICAN ISSUES PROJECT

"Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers."

That was Senator Barack Obama speaking about his cap and trade plans with The San Francisco Chronicle on Jan. 17, 2008.

The potential cost of the liberals' cap and trade policy is enormous. It will likely cost $700 to $1,400 dollars per family per year. The Department of Energy estimated that a similar bill, S. 2191, the Warner-Lieberman cap-and-trade proposal, will increase the cost of coal for power generation by between 161 percent and 413 percent. Human Events reported that the DOE estimated GDP losses [PDF] over the 21-year period they forecast, at between $444 billion and $1.308 trillion. There are estimates that the bill could increase unemployment by 2.7 percent or about 4 million jobs.

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag was on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos in March. During his interview Orszag admitted that Obama's proposed cap and trade energy legislation will increase energy costs for everyone. The Heritage Foundation reported that cumulative GDP losses for 2010 to 2029 approach $7 trillion. Single-year losses exceed $600 billion in 2029, more than $5,000 per household. Job losses are expected to exceed 800,000 in some years, and exceed at least 500,000 from 2015 through 2026. In Missouri and the Midwest, where energy is "cheap," cap and trade legislation would cause electricity rates to double. Even the far Left Huffington Post admits that the approach taken by the Waxman-Markey bill does not alleviate the problem whereby household consumers will pay higher energy costs.

Democrats know that a cap and trade energy policy will be extremely expensive for American consumers. But, will this stop them from pushing ahead with their dangerous cap and trade legislation? No.

Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) formally introduced the latest version of the American Clean Energy and Security Act [PDF] on Friday, May 15th, paving the way for the bill to move toward the markup stage Monday. The two congressional liberals are hoping for a committee vote on the dangerous bill by Friday before the Memorial Day weekend. The bill would then be tackled on the House floor sometime over the summer. The planned "cap" reduces greenhouse gas emissions to 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 83 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. GreenBiz has more on the bill's details and permit allocations.

And, you will never guess who helped craft this legislation-- Green activists, including one of Al Gore's environmental groups. Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-California) used USCAP's proposals as a blueprint for climate legislation. The Washington Times reported that the sweeping climate bill includes a provision that benefits Duke Energy Corp., a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), whose climate plan released in January the lawmakers have frequently called a "blueprint" for their climate legislation. The Times continued:

At the kickoff to hearings last week on the massive climate bill, Myron Ebell, climate and energy policy director for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told lawmakers, "The authors of the draft bill have invited the beneficiaries of what could turn out to be the biggest transfer of wealth from consumers to special interests in American history to write the rules for this legalized plunder."

Al Gore's World Resources Institute is also one of the founding members of USCAP, the organization that helped construct the bill. The former VP has also invested heavily in green businesses that will benefit greatly by the liberals' cap and trade plans. Gore is the founder and chairman of Alliance for Climate Protection. You likely know the organization through its branch Repower America. This group has bombarded the airwaves with "We Can Solve It" ads that are pushing for cap and trade legislation.

So how will this affect Americans?

A study was released last week that claimed that one in five American homeowners were "under water," or owe more money on their house than it is currently worth. Average home prices fell 14.9 percent nationwide this past year. It is likely that many homeowners who took out ARMs during the 2000s were thinking that they would be able to sell or refinance their homes before the interest rate was scheduled to adjust. Now they will not be able to do that. These Americans are already facing a personal financial crisis. Now Democrats want to burden them with a new $700 to $1,400 tax. Does this make sense?

Democratic Congressman John Dingell admitted on April 24th at a Congressional hearing on global warming that cap and trade is a tax-- a Great Big Tax. He was right. And, this Great Big Tax is the last thing that America needs right now. The liberals' cap and trade plan will obliterate the economy.

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