IER analysis looks at economic impacts of provisions of House bill lurking below the marquee

WASHINGTON – In advance of Wednesday’s Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on the economic consequences of climate change legislation, the Institute for Energy Research (IER) today released an analysis entitled ‘The Other Half of Waxman-Markey: An Examination of the Non-Cap-and-Trade Provisions.’ As the title suggests, the report identifies and analyzes several of the provisions included in the House climate bill unrelated to cap-and-trade, but taken on the whole, potentially just as harmful to the U.S. economy as the components of the bill attracting all the headlines.

IER President Thomas J. Pyle released the following statement about the new study:

“Though nearly all of the debate surrounding Waxman-Markey and its new Senate counterpart, Kerry-Boxer, has centered on cap-and-trade, there is much more to this legislation than just that one policy. This bill is chock-full of provisions that mandate everything from the kind of light bulbs we can use in our swimming pools to the amount of electricity that utilities will be forced to provide from politically correct, unreliable, and unaffordable sources.

“While the bill boldly announces itself ready and willing to regulate fundamental aspects of Americans’ daily lives, harder to find is any explanation of how it will actually improve our environment, or enhance the quality of life of those who live within it. One would’ve thought those considerations could have found their way into a nearly 700-page bill. But they did not, and it’s hard to imagine they will moving forward.”

More information on the study:

For additional information, please contact Patrick Creighton, 202-621-2947, or Laura Henderson, 202-621-2951.

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