Climate Bill Will Not Harm Working-Class Families

In a June 24 letter, the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) claims that the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) would harm poor and working-class families.

CORE, which has reportedly received funding from ExxonMobil, cites no basis for its extreme assertions, and completely ignores the objective analyses of ACES showing that the bill would benefit low-income consumers and populations:

1. Analysis of ACES by the Congressional Budget Office shows that  “households in the lowest income quintile would see an average net benefit of about $40 in 2020″ under ACES.
2. As CBO explicitly notes, that figure “does not include the economic benefits and other benefits of the reduction in GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions and the associated slowing of climate change.” According to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, “the African American community will disproportionately benefit from climate policies that slow climate change,” in part because “African Americans are already disproportionately burdened by the health effects of climate change, including deaths during heat waves and from worsened air pollution.”
3. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, one of the nation’s premier policy organizations working on public policies that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals, just released a new report, “New EPA and CBO Estimates Refute Claims That House Climate Bill Would Impose Large Costs on Households and the Economy.”  The name says it all.