For Those Unemployed from Cap and Trade, Help is on the Way…For 1.5 % of You
Nicolas Loris /
It’s no secret the Waxman-Markey cap and trade legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is a jobs killer. Heritage Foundation economists found that over a 2012-2030 timeline, job losses average over 1.1 million. By 2035, a projected 2.5 million jobs are lost below the baseline (without a cap and trade bill). But don’t take our word for it. The Black Chamber of Commerce and The Brookings Institution are projecting catastrophic job losses as well.
It’s all right, though, because the government has you covered. Sort of. It’s called Climate Change Worker Adjustment Assistance (CCWAA). Translation: It’s unemployment insurance for those who are going to lose their jobs because of Waxman-Markey. It provides “156 weeks of income supplement, 80 percent of their monthly health care premium, up to $1,500 for job search assistance, up to $1,500 for moving assistance, and additional employment services for skills assessment, job counseling, training, and other services.”
The problem is, the numbers don’t add up. A recently released CBO report calculates the outlays for the CCWAA to be $4.3 billion over 9 years (2011 through 2019). Using $35,507 as the average income per person and $9,968 as the average health care cost, the annual compensation cost to a worker displaced by Waxman-Markey would be $32,829. Combining those two estimates, CBO suggests that the program would cover, on average, 14,553 displaced workers each year.