That's a little less than $15 a month. And the funniest part of the controversy is Republican concern for ordinary Americans and the looming threat of American companies moving offshore. I say let the companies move and shine a very bright light on them, I can't think of a less patriotic action. As far as displacing industries to other parts of the country, it may be necessary in order to place manufacturers in areas where resources such as wind and solar are more abundant. MC
Climate Bill to Cost Average Consumer $175 a Year: CBO
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Climate-change legislation would cost the average household $175 a year by 2020, according to the Congressional Budget Office, far below the figure commonly used by GOP critics of the House bill.
The CBO said yesterday that the poorest 20 percent of American households would actually receive a $40 benefit in 2020 from the legislation, which would establish a cap-and-trade system to limit greenhouse gas emissions, while the richest 20 percent of households would see a net cost of $245 a year. The costs would result from higher prices for carbon-based fuels, offset by a complex series of tax breaks and free allowances, new technologies and behavioral changes, and impacts on corporations and their profits.
The CBO, a nonpartisan arm of Congress, said it did not take into account any indirect benefits of slowing climate change, which are substantial but difficult to quantify.
It warned that the costs of the legislation would fall unevenly depending on an individual's employer, investments and behavior. It said that "some regions and industries would experience substantially higher rates of unemployment and job turnover as the program became increasingly stringent." It said that the consumer price index could be 0.7 percent higher in 2020 than it would be otherwise, assuming that business cost increases are passed on to consumers.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) said the CBO report shows that his bill is "effective and affordable." Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the bill's lead co-sponsor, said it showed that the cost would be about the same as a postage stamp a day for the average household.
But Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), said that the CBO analysts "got an unrealistically low number for cost per family because they didn't factor in the millions of American jobs that will move overseas if the United States imposes this tax and our foreign competitors, like China and India, do not. I don't know what color the sky is in a world where that won't happen, but I'm sure you can ask the unicorns."
More Here: The Washington Post