API Statement on CBO assessment of costs of House climate bill

Karen Matusic | 202-682-8118 | matusick@api.org

WASHINGTON, September 18, 2009 - American Petroleum Institute President Jack Gerard made the following statement on the Congressional Budget Office report that found that if cap and trade provisions of the Waxman-Markey climate bill are implemented, the US gross domestic product would be reduced by as much as 3.5 percent below what it otherwise would have been in 2050.

“Despite repeated assertions by proponents of the House climate bill that the legislation would cost Americans less than a postage stamp a day, yet another government study shows that is not the case. Like a Treasury Department analysis revealed this week, a Congressional Budget Office study shows that climate legislation will come at a big cost for the American people and for American industry. CBO said the House climate bill would reduce the gross domestic product of the United States by as much as 3.5 percent a year. An economic drop of this magnitude could lead to the loss of millions of American jobs and would have a huge impact on many American businesses. The Senate should carefully assess the impact on ordinary Americans when it debates its own climate bill. The bill should be equitable as well as economically and environmentally efficient and It should take into consideration the huge burden placed on consumers and the transportation industries, as well as encourage the use of low-emission natural gas.