The American Pundit

In an admission likely to further harm the chances of passing cap-and-trade without disastrous political repercussions, the Obama Administration has conceded that the cap-and-trade plan it and liberal Democrats are pushing will cost American families an extra $1,761 per year.

The Treasury Department has compiled an analysis, released through a Freedom of Information request, showing that the real cost of cap-and-trade, or cap-and-tax as it’s known by opponents, to American families is several times larger than liberals have been claiming.

The Obama administration has privately concluded that a cap and trade law would cost American taxpayers up to $200 billion a year, the equivalent of hiking personal income taxes by about 15 percent.

A previously unreleased analysis prepared by the U.S. Department of Treasury says the total in new taxes would be between $100 billion to $200 billion a year. At the upper end of the administration’s estimate, the cost per American household would be an extra $1,761 a year.

A second memorandum, which was prepared for Obama’s transition team after the November election, says this about climate change policies: “Economic costs will likely be on the order of 1 percent of GDP, making them equal in scale to all existing environmental regulation.”

The documents (PDF) were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the free-market Competitive Enterprise Institute and released on Tuesday.

Liberals will try to spin the massive new costs during a recession, or any time for that matter, as worth it in order to “save the planet”. Of course, cap-and-trade would have a negligible impact on the environment and the jury, contrary to popular belief, is still out on whether anthropogenic global warming even exists in the first place.

So here’s the bottom line: In order to appease global warming alarmists and their far-left envirowhacko allies, in order to put more money in the pockets of Al Gore, liberals in the White House and in Congress are willing to charge your family an additional $1,761 per year. In the midst of a recession. With nearly 10% unemployment. All to accomplish less than nothing environmentally.

On top of that, the country would lose about 1% of its GDP. For 2009, we’re talking about costing the American economy an additional $120 billion when it’s already in retraction. More jobs will be lost, America will become less competitive in the world, and already-struggling American families will struggle even more.

This isn’t just some environment-saving legislation that will cost Americans a bit more on their electric bill. We’re talking about legislation that accomplishes very little for the planet, costs American families almost $1,800 more a year, kills even more American jobs, and rips another 1% off the GDP. It’s a disastrous, radical plan to “save the earth” by harming this country and its productivity.