'ECONOMIST: GLOBAL WARMING BILL THREATENS MIDWEST ECONOMY'

(Sioux City Journal) -- Siouxcityjournal.com reports that Midwestern "consumers and industries would pay a heavy price if a controversial climate bill clears Congress, a leading economist told a group of local business leaders" last week. The article notes that the House has already "approved a so-called cap-and-trade bill, which would cap greenhouse gas emissions at 17% of 2005 levels by 2020" and force businesses to purchase "emission allowances." Margo Thorning, chief economist for the American Council for Capital Formation, said the Midwest would get "hit more severely than the east coast or the west coast" due to its "dependence on coal and heavy reliance on energy-dependence industries." The story reports, "Thorning said the House bill would escalate energy bills, destroy jobs and restrict growth and transfer wealth, while doing little to slow long-term global climate change." An ACCF study "found Waxman-Marky's provisions would cost Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota a total of nearly 33,000 manufacturing jobs by 2030" and the "average annual household income would fall by as much as $1,410 in Nebraska," while "electricity rates would jump as much as 64% and natural gas rates by 77%, while gasoline prices would rise by 24%." "It would have a very noticeable impact on your personal lifestyles," she said. See more at

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/business/local/article_48bdfcda-0172-11df-a8a2-001cc4c002e0.html>