Wyoming fossil fuel sector can expect massive job losses under climate bill
Barrasso: Budget Office admits Waxman-Markey climate legislation bad news for Wyoming fossil fuel sector
by Senator John Barrasso media release
October 14, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts the U.S. fossil fuel industry will suffer significant job losses if the Waxman-Markey climate bill is signed into law.
Director of the CBO, Dr. Douglas Elmendorf, said the fossil fuel sector would mirror the massive job losses experienced by the manufacturing industry since the 1970s.
The startling admission was in response to questioning by Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Elmendorf was testifying before the Energy and Public Resources Committee hearing Wednesday.
"This is not sugar coated. The CBO assessment of the Waxman-Markey climate bill is very bad news for Wyoming industry," Barrasso said. "It is bad news for America’s fossil fuel sector. The CBO has painted a worrying, yet very honest picture of the impact of this bill on Wyoming jobs."
"The shifts will be significant," Elmendorf said. "We want to leave no misunderstanding that aggregate performance, the fact that jobs turn up somewhere else for some people does not mean that there are not substantial costs borne by people, communities, firms in affected industries and affected areas. You saw that in manufacturing, and we would see that in response to changes that this legislation would produce."
"The Waxman-Markey bill will have significant affects on Wyoming families, Wyoming jobs and Wyoming’s economy. There would be permanent job shifts, total unemployment would increase and families would lose purchasing power," Barrasso said during the hearing.
"Industries like coal mining, oil and gas extraction, and petroleum refining will suffer significant job losses over time. These are Wyoming industries."
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