A new study released by the Heritage Foundation finds that a bill co-authored by Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) working its way through the House Energy and Commerce Committee to fight global warming by a “cap-and-trade” system–issuing industries permits to emit carbon dioxide and then allowing them to trade the permits–would raise

• the average family’s monthly energy bill by $125 ($1,500 per year);
• electricity rates by 90% after adjusting for inflation;
• gasoline prices by 74% (e.g., from a national average $2.30/gal. for regular to $4.00/gal.); and
• residential natural gas prices by 55%.

The bill would also reduce gross domestic product by an average of $380 billion per year, or $9.6 trillion cumulatively through 2035; raise unemployment by about 1.1 million in an average year, and peak-year (2035) unemployment by about 2.5 million; and raise inflation-adjusted federal debt 25%, or $29,150 added debt per American, or $116,600 per family of four.

The projected payoff? About 0.09 degree F reduction in global average temperature in the year 2050, or slowing allegedly manmade global warming by about 2 years. That works out to GDP loss from now to 2035 (i.e., not including continuing costs from 2035 to 2050) of about $1.1 billion for every 1/100th of a degree reduction in temperature.

And that assumes that global warming is caused primarily by manmade increases in atmospheric CO2, which is probably not true. Reduce human contribution to global warming to about 10% of what was assumed, and the temperature reduction from Waxman-Markey would be only about 0.009 degree F, at a rate of $1.1 billion for every 1,1000th of a degree reduction in temperature.