The farm lobby vs. the global warming bill

The bill's costs are also being grossly exaggerated. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) claims it would raise annual energy costs by $3,128 per household by 2015, an imaginary figure that he apparently derived from an estimate drawn up by MIT professor John M. Reilly -- who sent Boehner a letter saying the congressman was inflating the cost tenfold. The Congressional Budget Office released its estimate last week, saying the legislation would cost the average household $175 a year by 2020. Even that is probably an exaggeration, because it doesn't take into account improvements in energy efficiency. Though electricity would undoubtedly be more expensive if the bill passes, consumers and businesses would use less of it, meaning they could actually end up saving money. That's what happened after California started imposing energy-efficiency programs in the 1970s.

The House should pass the Waxman-Markey bill, and the Senate should speedily follow suit. Even congressional Republicans can't generate as much hot air as the billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide it would eliminate.