The Climate Change Debate Reaches A Fever Pitch
Friday, June 26, 2009SUSIE GHARIB: There's an historic debate under way on Capitol Hill over what to do about climate change. A vote is expected later tonight. Proponents say the landmark bill will cut greenhouse gas emissions and make energy cleaner, but more expensive. Opponents says it will do little for the environment and cause the U.S. to lose jobs. Who's right? Darren Gersh takes a closer look.
DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: At its core, Democrat Edward Markey called his climate change plan a jobs bill.
REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D) MASSACHUSETTS: It will create millions of new, clean energy jobs in whole new industries with incentives to drive competition in the energy marketplace.
GERSH: At its core, Republicans like Eric Cantor called the climate change bill a jobs exporter.
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R) VIRGINIA: Do we really want to hamstring U.S. industry and put it at a competitive disadvantage to Asia? Can we be so naive to assume our businesses, jobs and emissions won't emigrate to China and India?
GERSH: Estimates of the impact on employment from capping carbon emissions associated with global warming vary widely from a loss of over half a million jobs a year to a gain of just under 200,000 jobs a year. But those estimates come from advocates for and against legislation. A more accurate answer says Paul Bledsoe of the Bipartisan Policy Center is that no one knows for sure whether this bill will create or destroy jobs.
PAUL BLEDSOE, COMMUNICATIONS DIR., BIPARTISAN POLICY CTR.: I think this bill is likely to create some long-term economic investment in clean energy, which it's pretty clear the country needs and our energy economics are trending toward. How large those numbers will be is very uncertain.
GERSH: Uncertain in part by design, the House bill phases in caps on carbon emissions. The idea is to ease the impact on factories and plants and the steepest reductions come after the year 2020. It's estimated for a typical family those reductions could increase the overall cost of living anywhere from a $100 a year to a few thousand dollars a year. Washington analyst Andy Laperriere says the overall impact will be to reduce living standards.
ANDY LAPERRIERE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ISI: I think the total number of jobs in the country remains the same over a longer period of time, but the purchasing power of the American people is reduced if their energy costs are higher
GERSH: The most immediate employment impact of this bill may be political. Members of Congress facing a close reelection fight next year worry a yes vote could cost them their own jobs. Darren Gersh, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.
