Research Briefing

Obama’s Cap-And-Trade Increases Taxes And Kills Jobs

OBAMA HEADS TO M.I.T. TO SELL “CAP-AND TRADE” SCHEME: “President Obama will try to push the Senate climate bill forward Friday with an energy-themed speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, just days before the start of a marathon series of hearings featuring testimony from top administration officials.” (Darren Samuelsohn, “Obama To Give Senate Climate Bill A Push With MIT Speech,” The New York Times, 10/21/09)

BUT M.I.T.’S PROFESSORS WARN AMERICANS ABOUT COSTS OF DEMS’ NATIONAL ENERGY TAX

This Week, Former M.I.T. Economist Denny Ellerman Says “Cap-And-Trade” Allows Government To Pick “Winners And Losers” Among Energy Producers. “The decision to limit greenhouse gas emissions necessarily implies a reallocation of society’s resources towards reducing these emissions and that decision will itself create winners and losers.” (Denny Ellerman, Committee On Energy And Natural Resources, United States Senate, 10/21/09)

• And Warns That Americans Would Ultimately Bear Costs Of National Energy Tax. “It is also possible to by-pass all of these public purposes and distribute the allowance value directly to households in what could be seen as compensation for the increased costs that households will inevitably bear.” (Denny Ellerman, Committee On Energy And Natural Resources, United States Senate, 10/21/09)

M.I.T. Climate Scientist Richard Lindzen: “Controlling Carbon Is A Bureaucrat’s Dream. If You Control Carbon, You Control Life.” (“Dodging Global Warming Bullet, At Least For Now,” McClatchy-Tribune, 6/14/08)

2009 M.I.T. Study Shows “Cap-And-Trade” Could Cost Each American Family Up To $1200 Per Year Over Next Few Decades. [The cost per household] rises to just over $300 (about $280 in the full offset case) in 2020, and to about $2700 ($1560 in the full offset case) per household by 2050. On average for the 2012-2050 period, the cost per household is between $720 and $1200 depending on the offsets assumption. (Sergey Paltsev, et-al, “The Cost Of Climate Policy In The United States,” MIT Joint Program On The Science And Policy Of Global Change, 4/2009)

And 2007 M.I.T. Study Shows “Cap-And-Trade” Would Be $130 - $366 Billion Tax Increase On Americans By 2015. “[T[he potential revenue streams are substantial, ranging in just the first period of the policy from $130 billion in the 287 bmt [billions of metric tons] case to $366 billion in the 167 bmt case.” (“Assessment Of U.S. Cap-And-Trade Proposals,” MIT Joint Program On The Science And Policy Of Global Change, 04/2007)