NAM, ACCF: Lieberman-Warner Bill Will Cost U.S. Big

The conclusions of a report released in March and conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF) said the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill (S. 2191), which the United States Senate is expected to debate in June 2008, would profoundly affect economic impact on U.S. businesses, consumers and governments nationally and in all 50 states (via Industry Week).

The legislation aims to reduce total U. S. greenhouse gas emissions with the goal of lowering emissions 63 percent below their 2005 levels by the year 2050 through a system that would call for companies to cap their emissions, and then have them trade emissions rights with each other.

A sampling of the findings of the NAM-ACCF report includes:

• Gross Domestic Product losses of $151 billion to $210 billion in 2020 and $631 billion to $669 billion per year in 2030;
• Employment losses of 1.2 million to 1.8 million jobs in 2020 and 3 million to 4 million jobs in 2030;
• Household income losses of $739 to $2,927 per year in 2020 and $4,022 to $6,752 per year in 2030;
• Electricity price increases of 28% to 33% by 2020 and 101% to 129% by 2030; and
• Gasoline price increases (per gallon) of 20% to 69% by 2020 and 77% to 145% by 2030

Last year NAM said EPA's proposed standards seeking to reduce ozone levels from 84 parts per billion, would have a negative impact on manufacturing employment while providing only "nominal, if any, health benefits."