A House Bill authorizing a cap-and-trade system of pollution credits will slow economic recovery by keep unemployment high, according to the head of the Congressional Budget Office.
CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf said those employed in fossil-fuel industries would look for jobs in sectors that would fare better under cape-and-trade legislation, such as power and wind energy businesses.
But, not everyone will find employment, which could slow economic growth over decades.
“We want to leave no misunderstanding that aggregate performance — the fact that jobs turn up somewhere else for some people — does not mean that there are not substantial costs borne by people, communities, firms in affected industries and affected areas” Elmendorf said, according to The Washington Post.
“You saw that in manufacturing, and we would see that in response to changes that this legislation would produce.”
Democrats, including Rep. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, say the bill “would only cost about a postage stamp a day, and that's before you include thousands of dollars in savings from energy-efficiency gains.”
Some Republicans in Congress, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, have hinted at their support for coming to a bipartisan effort to pass some version of a climate bill, elating some Democratic Senators, who are ready to debate the legislation later this year.
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