Show-Me Pocket Change

The Springfield News-Leader posted an op-ed today by Carl Bearden examining the misguided Cap-and-Trade bill awaiting the Senate’s judgment.

I’ve written about this bill earlier, and while it’s a national issue, this op-ed breaks down what Missouri can expect to see if this ersatz environmental bill is passed, projecting that “by 2020 we would have 23,000 to 34,000 fewer jobs; a $900 to $2,800 reduction in annual household disposable income; an annual hit to Missouri economy of between $2.7 billion and $3.7 billion; and much higher energy prices – 21 percent to 67 percent higher for gasoline and 31 percent to 39 percent for electricity.” I don’t know about you, but my utilities are a huge chunk of my paycheck each month and they already increase every year as it is. So essentially, the additional costs to the businesses that employ Missouri workers will result in fewer jobs/reduced wages. Then those workers will turn around and be facing skyrocketing utility and gasoline prices, taking even more out of their paychecks for the same program.

So, try a rough estimate with me. Say my monthly disposable income is, like, $400, so $4800 a year. Heck, we’ll round up to $5000/year. Less the lowest-projected $900 reduction in household disposable income, so my disposable income would be $4100/year. I spend about $200 on my electric bill each month, so the lowest increase rate would cost me $62/month. I spend about the same on gas, so the lowest rate increase would be another $42/month, so that’s $1248/year in gas/electricity rate increases. Altogether, that’s 43% of my disposable income gone in the most conservative of estimates. It may be better or worse for some people, but it’s no small chunk of change and few Missourians are expecting raises in the foreseeable future.

This amounts to a tax increase: money shaved off of personal earnings to pay for a government program – a program that does very little if anything to decrease or deter greenhouse gas emissions, merely shuffles them around to companies that can afford the prices.

On a more lighthearted note: