Waxman-Markey – Last Minute Changes Don’t Lower The Price Tag

Ben Lieberman / June 24, 2009

The Waxman-Markey global warming bill – already the most convoluted attempt at economic central planning this nation has ever seriously considered – just got a lot more complicated with hundreds of pages of last-minute changes. Though it would take weeks for members of Congress to figure out exactly what this now-1,200 page bill does, it is scheduled for a rush vote by the end of the week. But one thing is certain – it still is a massive energy tax that would severely hurt the American people and the American economy.

The current version does not weaken the stringent targets and timetables for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels. They must decline by 3 percent in 2012, 17 percent by 2020, and 83 percent by 2050. Since fossil fuels comprise 85 percent of the nation’s energy and there is no way to cheaply substitute for them, the targets amount to energy rationing. Prices for gasoline, electricity, and natural gas have to rise high enough so that individuals and businesses are forced to use less of them. Economic pain is how these ever-tightening targets are met. (more…)