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USCAP Releases Economic Analysis of Promoted Climate Blueprint

An analysis released today by the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP) projects that if Congress adopts climate change legislation based on a blueprint released by the organization earlier this year, the nation’s economy would grow about 70% through 2030 despite adopting carbon emission–curbing measures.

A Blueprint for Legislative Action“ (PDF) articulates the need for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and provides specific guidelines for the Obama administration and Congress to enact a federal carbon cap-and-trade program. The Waxman-Markey bill that narrowly passed in the U.S. House on June 26 was based on USCAP’s blueprint, as Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) have publicly stated.

Interest in the document was evident at the very first hearing—on Jan. 15— held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in the 111th Congress. The hearing, titled “The U.S. Climate Action Partnership,” focused solely on the perspectives of members of the alliance, including executives from ConocoPhillips, Duke Energy, Exelon, GE, and Siemens.

The analysis was conducted using two economic models (ADAGE and NEMS-USCAP), similar to those employed by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Energy Information Agency in their review of climate legislation. The models show that adopting climate legislation causes an almost imperceptible dip in the growth of GDP through 2030.

Under a business-as-usual scenario where no climate legislation is enacted, the total output of the U.S. economy is projected to reach $22.3 trillion by 2030. The analysis reveals that, under a climate policy based on the blueprint, the economy would arrive at this point two to four months later, depending on the scenario examined, the coalition of business and environmental groups suggests.

The analysis also finds that carbon offsets are essential to containing costs and proposes that delays or strict limits on a domestic and international offsets program would likely increase total costs. In addition, the study found that complementary policies for energy efficiency, transportation, and the accelerated development of carbon capture and sequestration, among other technologies, are especially important to advance technology and lower future energy spending.

See a backgrounder on the USCAP’s Economy Analysis here (PDF).

Source: USCAP

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