WASHINGTON, June 2, 2008--Illinois would lose more than 24,250 jobs. Virginia would lose more than 15,100 jobs. Connecticut would say goodbye to more than 7,150. And tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs across the country never would be created.

Those are a few examples of the severe economic consequences ahead if Congress passes climate-change legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), according to state-by-state calculations released by The Heritage Foundation.

Members of Congress, intending to combat global warming, actually would send the cost of energy soaring while slashing employment and income across the nation if they enact the leading climate-change legislation now before the Senate, the calculations show.

Heritage analysts posted data and charts projecting the number of jobs lost and the cost in economic output for each state and all 435 congressional districts, should the so-called Lieberman-Warner bill become law.

By going to heritage.org/Research/Energyand
Environment/wm1930.cfm and clicking on the name of any state in America, taxpayers and lawmakers alike can see how Lieberman-Warner would affect economic growth, employment and personal income there. Projected increases in retail prices for electricity, natural gas and gasoline are included.

Among hardest-hit states: Illinois, California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Maryland, Minnesota, Utah, South Dakota and Colorado.

In Lieberman's Connecticut, passage would mean losses of more than 1,375 non-farm jobs in four of the five congressional districts in 2025, for a total of 7,157 lost jobs. Another 15,269 manufacturing jobs would fail to materialize. The blow to economic output would amount to at least $295 million in each of the five districts, for a total of $2 billion.

In Warner's Virginia, the bill's passage would mean losses of more than 1,200 non-farm jobs in nine of the 11 congressional districts in 2025, for a total of 15,123 lost jobs. And 23,464 otherwise anticipated manufacturing jobs would not be created. Economic output would drop by at least $260 million in each district, for a total of $3.6 billion.

A Heritage study released May 12 describes "extraordinary perils" posed by Lieberman-Warner for Americans -- in return for an almost imperceptible drop in global temperature. The legislation, formally titled America's Climate Security Act, would set strict limits on emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, from combustion of coal, oil and natural gas.

Nationally, Heritage analysts predict Lieberman-Warner would mean nearly a 20 percent jump in electricity, natural gas and gasoline prices from 2012 to 2025.

Connecticut consumers would pay $514 more on average for electricity, $351 more for gasoline and $220 more for natural gas in 2025 than they would have under current law. Meanwhile, average household income would drop by $1,217 in 2030 compared with 2012, adjusted for inflation.

Virginians would pay $398 more on average for electricity, $390 more for gasoline and $163 more for natural gas in 2025 under Lieberman-Warner. Average household income would fall by $934 in 2030 compared with 2012.

Heritage analysts also released a chart forecasting the price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in each state and the District of Columbia both 12 and 22 years from now, based on passage of Lieberman-Warner. They predict prices in Connecticut and New York would be among the highest in 2030, up 29 percent to $6.10 and $6.01 respectively. The chart is at heritage.org/Research/
EnergyandEnvironment/images/wm1930_table1.gif.

The Heritage study stresses that "cap and trade" restrictions contemplated by Congress are arbitrary and based on undeveloped technologies. Those restrictions, the analysis says, would force severe curtailments on energy use and rising prices. The system of emission permits or "allowances" set up by Lieberman-Warner would transfer trillions of dollars from the energy-using public to a select list of special interests.

The 27-page report by Heritage's Center for Data Analysis, "The Economic Costs of the Lieberman-Warner
Climate Change Legislation," includes 16 other charts and tables and is available at heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment
/cda08-02.cfm.