Hey, did you notice that new analysis the Environmental Protection Agency just put out? The one on the economic impacts of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act? No? None of this ringing a bell?
That’s just the way the EPA wants it. Like it was putting a scandal-ridden aide out to pasture, the administration quietly released the report on Friday afternoon and has tried to bury the important findings.
But while the release may have been stealthy and the presentation was marked by the White House’s typical efforts to make everything look bleak, the results speak loudly, showing we can both tackle global warming and grow America’s economy.
Here’s the short version: assuming advanced energy technologies hit the market fast, America’s economy will grow 80 percent by 2030. If we don’t cap carbon emissions, America’s economy will grow 81 percent by 2030.
The 80 percent figure associated with a carbon cap doesn’t even measure the important economic boom expected from the Climate Security Act’s aggressive investment in clean energy jobs. And even that 81 percent no-cap figure has a major question mark, as it assumes that if we don’t cap carbon, our economy will not lose so much as one dollar to the impacts of runaway climate change.
Clearly, this is not good news for a Bush administration that’s trying to convince America that climate action will wreck the economy. Hence, the quiet Friday release. As the National Wildlife Federation’s Jeremy Symons said, “It’s not surprising that the Bush administration took steps to disguise the fundamental conclusion that the Lieberman-Warner climate plan is doable and protects our economy.”
You can read the full report at the EPA website. Lots more detail and analysis of the EPA report in a joint release from Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. John Warner (R-Va.).
