The auto industry has long been a target of environmental activists. The push to put American consumers in smaller cars has been made quite clear. First, the Obama Administration enacted higher fuel efficiency standards – standards laden with unintended consequences. Now Congress is considering a cap and trade proposal that, by 2035, would raise inflation-adjusted gasoline prices by 58 percent.
But that’s not all. The Heritage Foundation’s economic analysis of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill found that the transportation equipment industry would be one of the hardest hit sectors. This includes just about everything under the umbrella of transportation: motor vehicles and auto manufacturing, auto parts manufacturing, truck and bus bodies, motor vehicle parts and accessories, truck trailers, motor homes, aircrafts, aircraft engines and parts, ship and boat building and repairing, railroads and railroad equipment, and motorcycles and bicycle parts.
The Heritage Foundation’s analysis of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill found that, over the 2012-2035 timeline, transportation equipment job losses average over 78,000. There would be over 174,000 fewer transportation equipment jobs with a cap and trade bill than without one.
Consider yourself warned.