CBO Says Obama's Cap-and-Trade Will Hurt Americans

Of course it will:

A proposed U.S. market to trade rights to emit greenhouse gases would adversely affect both consumers and producers at a time of national economic distress, according to testimony from the Congressional Budget Office.

"Under a cap-and-trade program, consumers would ultimately bear most of the costs of emission reductions," said Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, in testimony to the Senate Finance Committee. "Higher prices for energy-intensive goods and services would lead to a variety of consequences for different industries, regions of the country, and income groups," he said.

Nevertheless, the CBO director said, "policymakers can significantly affect the distribution of costs associated with a cap-and-trade program, depending on how they decide to distribute the value of the allowance."

The non-partisan CBO, which provides federal economic and budgetary analysis to Congress, estimated that a 15% reduction in carbon emissions would cost the average U.S. household roughly $1,600.

That $1,600 figure is an average. As Don Surber points out, those communities like his that rely on coal powered plants will end up paying twice that. In other words, some of the poorest areas of the country will get hit the hardest.

Hope. Change.