Energy bills include financial aid for poor
Douglas Turner’s Nov. 2 column, “Energy bill exemplifies Washington elitism,” could give readers the wrong impression about our findings with regard to congressional energy legislation. We find that such legislation need not burden low-income families.
True, market-based policies to fight global warming work by raising the price of energy and energy-intensive goods and services. If low-income households were left to their own devices to cope with those higher prices, they would indeed experience greater hardship. But the bills Congress is considering include financial relief to mitigate the impact of higher energy prices on the budgets of vulnerable families.
In fact, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the House bill that passed this summer would fully compensate the average low-income American. More than 4 million low-income New Yorkers would potentially be helped.
Turner is right to be concerned about the potential impact of climate legislation on vulnerable households. As our research shows, however, his concerns can be allayed with well-designed policies like the low-income protections in the House energy bill.
Chad Stone
Chief Economist, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Washington, D. C.
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