Cost Estimates for Markey - Waxman

On June 19, the Congressional Budget Office announced that the average household would spend a miniscule amount to reduce global warming pollution under H.R. 2454. This independent analysis determined "that the net annual economywide cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $22 billion—or about $175 per household." This is 48 cents per day – about one-third the cost of a small cup of Starbuck's coffee.

CBO acknowledges that its estimates are quite conservative (low) since the calculation "does not include the economic benefits and other benefits of the reduction in GHG emissions and the associated slowing of climate change."

The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy estimates that the efficiency provisions alone could save consumers $9 billion annually by 2020. The savings would be $750 per household –- more than double CBO's highest projected cost for compliance with the bill's greenhouse gas pollution reductions.

The bottom line is that CBO predicts the net costs of the global warming reduction program in H.R. 2454 will have a relatively small cost. And energy efficiency measures alone will save at least twice as much as this estimated cost.