CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

ACCF/NAM Study of the Economic Impact of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act

New York Economic Impact on the State from the Lieberman-Warner Proposed Legislation to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions (PDF Report with graphs and references)

Understanding the economic impacts of the Lieberman- Warner Climate Security Act1 (L/W bill) can help guide choices on climate change policy.2 In this study, the L/W bill was analyzed under low and high cost cases with respect to a baseline that projects the future in the absence of the bill.

The L/W bill would enforce a nationwide cap and trade program for the emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and would reduce GHG emissions covered by the bill to 4,992 Million Metric Tons of CO2 (MMTCO2) by 2020 and 3,856 MMTCO2 by 2030. L/W sets targets that would reduce GHG emissions to 15% below 2005 levels by 2020; 30% below 2005 levels by 2030; and 70% below 2005 levels by 2050. Covered emissions are assumed to include everything from combustion of fossil fuels in the United States, plus non-CO2 GHG emissions included in the L/W cap. The price of carbon permits (what companies must pay to emit CO2) could reach between $55 and $64 per metric ton of CO2 (MT) by 2020 and could increase to between $227/MT and $271/MT by 2030.3

Impact on Jobs Under L/W, New York would lose 65,728 to 98,873 jobs in 2020 and 156,404 to 208,197 jobs in 2030. The primary cause of job losses would be lower industrial output due to higher energy prices, the high cost of complying with required emissions cuts, and greater competition from overseas manufacturers with lower energy costs.

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