New energy taxes proposed by Democrats in the Senate, including Harry Reid (D-NV) and Bill Nelson (D-FL), would cost 154,000 American jobs and reduce economic output by $341 billion, according to a new independent analysis.

Dr. Joseph Mason of Louisiana State University writes:

With at least 150,000 U.S. jobs at stake — in fields ranging from healthcare to real estate — it’s clear that the cost of repealing Section 199 and dual capacity far outweigh the potential benefit of increased government revenues that may be derived from the proposal.

Democrats, recipients of big campaign cash from major oil companies, would like to pretend that they’re standing up to “Big Oil” by proposing these energy taxes. Instead, they’re going to put more 154,000 Americans out of work and reduce our country’s economic output by hundreds of billions of dollars.

The Obama Administration says the new taxes will bring in $17 billion in revenue to the federal government. Let’s accept that figure for a moment, ignoring the fact that tax hikes actually tend to reduce tax revenue because economic activity that generates tax revenue is suppressed.

Is that potential $17 billion in revenue to the federal government worth putting 154,000 Americans on the unemployment line? Or reducing economic output by $341 billion? Should we further destroy the private sector in order to generate comparably minimal revenue for Washington? Hardly.

And, of course, those most impacted by the new taxes will be the lower and middle classes. Businesses will be forced to both lay off employees and raise costs in order to offset the new taxes. Those must harmed will be those with the least disposable income. Unintended consequences.