New Climate Change Cost Analysis Released

The Congressional Budget Office has added some fuel to the fire when it comes to the debate over the climate change bill moving in the U.S. House. The CBO reports the legislation would cost U.S. households an average of 175-dollars a year in 2020. While that undercuts frequent Republican claims that the bill would cost households as much as 31-hundred dollars a year. But according to Frank Lucas - Ranking Member of the House Ag Committee - the CBO study does not examine the full impact the entire bill will have on American families, farmers and small businesses. He says it only points out how much we still need to learn about the consequences of passing the measure.

The CBO found the gross annual cost of the bill in 2020 would be 110-billion dollars - mostly from the purchase of allowances and the financing of special projects in the farm and forestry sectors. The price of an allowance in that year would be 28-dollars per ton of emissions.

The report says about 47-billion would be allocated to industry - which would benefit the public indirectly through increased returns on investments. Another 10-percent would go to the federal government and states - while seven-percent would go toward overseas programs. Of the total cost - about 30-percent - or 28-billion dollars - would be allocated back to households directly.