WASHINGTON   –  U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) today cited an Administration memo obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by the Competitive Enterprise Institute.  The document estimates the cost of cap-and-trade energy tax legislation currently in Congress at $100 billion to $200 billion per year.

“By the Administration’s own estimates, this policy constitutes a colossal expense for American families.  It’s astonishing to me that the Administration knows this policy will be a huge financial hardship for Missourians, but they want to pass this measure regardless of its consequences,” Emerson said.

National estimates which calculate the state-by-state impact of cap-and-trade measures place the annual job loss figures for Missouri in the thousands.

“That’s not a thousand jobs in a single year, it’s three or four thousand jobs every year,” Emerson said.  “CBS News did the math on this and they say the costs break down to $1,761 every year for each American household.  In our state, the economic fallout would be far worse.  We would lose literally billions of dollars in economic productivity.”

Emerson voted against the cap-and-trade bill earlier this year, but the issue has continued to surface in discussions over the direction of the congressional agenda.

“It is still very possible we could see cap-and-trade brought up in Congress before the end of the year.  I certainly hope this issue never sees the light of day, and I have a lot of company on both sides of the aisle,” Emerson said.  “In our Southern Missouri congressional district, this bill wouldn’t discriminate: it would raise the cost of electricity by an estimated 70 percent for families regardless of their political affiliation.  For the good of our local economy and the future of its energy-intensive industries, we must prevent cap-and-trade from becoming law,” Emerson said.

An April analysis of the policy idea by the Environmental Protection Agency similarly found that cap-and-trade would reduce manufacturing capacity and dramatically increase the price of a gallon of gasoline.