The media are handicapping the upcoming vote on the Waxman-Markey bill as though it were The Kentucky Derby. In today's 24-hour-a-day news cycle, reporters, anchors and pundits are asking whether House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has the votes for passage, whether the bill could be more costly than previously anticipated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and they are dissecting President Obama's comments delivered in the Rose Garden this afternoon.

Speaking to reporters, the President called on members of Congress to support the bill, calling it "balanced and sensible" and "a jobs bill." The President added that the cost of the bill would amount to only the price of one postage stamp a day for each American.

API's careful examination of the Waxman-Markey bill has reached markedly differen... more »

Perhaps you've seen API's ad in The Washington Post today. It states our position on the Waxman-Markey bill quite clearly. The sub-head reads, "If you like $4 gasoline, you'll love the House Climate Bill."

No one likes the prospect of paying $4 for a gallon of gasoline, but API economists who analyzed the bill say $4 gasoline easily could become a reality. They based on their calculations on two recent studies--the Heritage Foundation analysis of the Waxman-Markey bill, and two Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports.

First, the economists' methodology using the Heritage study was quite simple. The Heritage Foundation found that the bill could raise gasoline prices by 74 percent. Based on the fact that today's AAA average gasoline price is $2.676, that means the bill could result i... more »

The most recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculations for the Waxman-Markey climate bill give new meaning to the term "rosy scenario."

CBO pegs the annual household cost of Waxman-Markey at $175 per household, yet its own report suggests gasoline could rise 77 cents a gallon. That's $800 more a year just for gasoline, assuming a family uses 20 gallons a week. CBO claims that free emission allowances will offset this, but these go to businesses and government--not consumers.

Unlike other analyses, including EPA's, CBO assumes the legislation won't slow down the economy. But tweak CBO's assumptions with common sense and the annual household bill is more like $3,300. And that's in 2020 before the emissions cap ratchets down and costs climb thousands more.

Proponents of Waxman-Markey... more »

Yesterday, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) suspended the sale of all 31 oil and natural gas drilling tracts in Utah that had been purchased earlier in the day during a regularly scheduled lease sale, after the bureau accepted last-minute protests about the sale from two environmental groups. BLM has put all the leases on hold to conduct an environmental assessment.

While we appreciate the need to address protests to proposed lease sales, the deviation from set procedures by accepting late protests does not promote confidence that the Obama administration is committed to an orderly and predictable leasing process that allows for development of energy resources that belong to the American people.

This apparent policy of delay--in the face of public sentiment that favors greater acce... more »

This Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, or the Waxman-Markey bill. The American Petroleum Institute (API) strongly opposes the bill, and today sent a letter to every member of Congress explaining why this bill should be rejected by the House.

As studies by the Heritage Foundation and the National Black Chamber of Commerce show, this bill will cut jobs by more than two million a year and raise the price of gasoline by an estimated 77 cents a gallon over the next decade.

Recently, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) produced a new analysis of the Waxman-Markey bill, estimating that the net cost per household will be only $175 a year. API economists have reviewed this analysis and have found that it is deeply... more »