This month President Obama and the EPA released the final version of their “Clean Power Plan,” or as more aptly referred, the new “National Energy Tax.” The rule seeks to limit carbon in the U.S., and by the EPA’s own projections the benefits will be negligible, reducing global temperatures by 0.018 degrees by 2100 and sea level rise by a mere 0.20 millimeters by 2050.
While the environmental impact of the carbon rules is virtually non-existent, the impact on American families will be disastrous. Projections show the carbon rule will likely increase electricity rates in the U.S. by double digits in over 40 states. Such rate increases amount to a regressive tax on the nation’s most vulnerable.
The overwhelmingly regressive nature of the carbon rule is why leaders in Washington, such as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), have chosen to describe the rule as “Obama’s National Energy Tax.”
In a recent panel discussion in D.C., EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy admitted the disparate impact the new carbon rule would have stating, “We know that low-income minority communities would be hardest hit.” For once, Administrator McCarthy has chosen to be direct and open about what the rule really means for America’s most vulnerable populations.
As Americans for Tax Reform has previously pointed out, and EPA Administrator McCarthy has now confirmed, the effects the new carbon rule will have on low-income and minority communities will be particularly devastating.
According to recent reports by the National Black Chamber of Commerce, American minority communities will see jobs losses, reductions in household income and increased poverty rates that are far above the national average.
The report found that as a result of the regressive nature of Obama’s carbon rules, by 2035 African-American communities will see cumulative job losses of almost 7 million. For Hispanic communities the losses will be well over 12 million.
Similarly, median household income for African-Americans would decrease by $5,000 over the next 20 years and Hispanics would see losses greater than $7,000. The carbon rule will also lead to skyrocketing poverty rates for Hispanics, who will see poverty rate increases above 26 percent. For African-Americans the report found poverty rate increases of over 23 percent.
Administrator McCarthy and President Obama seem all to comfortable sacrificing the livelihoods of millions of hard-working Americans for essentially non-existent benefits. Sadly as a result of the carbon rules, some of America’s most vulnerable could now find themselves thrust into poverty, many of whom have just managed to pull themselves out.
Photo Credit: Chesapeake Bay Program