Here’s how Lieberman-Warner would affect the economy

                                    

It’s always a good feeling when other groups and studies validate what you have been saying in the public eye. Since ABEC began, our message has been that the economy, the environment and energy security are linked and that you can’t radically alter policies for one without affecting the others.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s economic analysis of Lieberman-Warner proves that point, finding the bill to be a job killer.

Meanwhile, consider this separate study released last week by Science Applications International Corporation, which points to some pretty severe economic consequences of the proposed Lieberman-Warner climate change bill. A few highlights:

• GDP losses of $151 to $210 billion in 2020 and $631 to $669 billion per year in 2030
• Employment losses of 1.2 to 1.8 million in 2020 and 3 to 4 million in 2030
• Electricity price increases of 28-33 percent by 2020 and 101-129 percent by 2030

While staggering, these numbers are hardly surprising. Imagine the impact these numbers will have on American families, especially ones already struggling to pay their electric bills?

Look, it’s possible to develop a federal program that can address the economic, environmental and energy security needs. Unfortunately, the Lieberman-Warner bill as it is currently written fulfills only one of those issues (environmental). Let’s hope that before the bill comes to the floor of the Senate, the bill’s sponsors make changes to it to accommodate the other parts of the full equation.