And by save the day, I mean crush any hope of speedy economic recovery.

The debate on global warming and energy policy accelerated on Tuesday as two senior House Democrats unveiled a far-reaching bill to cap heat-trapping gases and quicken the country’s move away from dependence on coal and oil.

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The draft measure, written by Representatives Henry A. Waxman of California and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, sets a slightly more ambitious goal for capping greenhouse gases than Mr. Obama’s proposal. The bill requires that emissions be reduced 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, while Mr. Obama’s plan calls for a 14 percent reduction by 2020. Both would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases by roughly 80 percent by 2050.

The Waxman-Markey bill, known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act, emerges at a time when many Americans, and their representatives in Congress, are wary of wide-ranging environmental legislation that could raise energy costs and potentially cripple industry. The bill also comes as the Environmental Protection Agency is about to exert regulatory authority over greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The bill would pre-empt that effort and create a new cap-and-trade scheme to control carbon emissions.

There is no basis for this legislation, despite Obama’s fraudulent insistence that global warming is unquestionable gospel.

A cap and trade system would produce significant economic harm for marginal environmental benefit.  The “cap” refers to a limit on the amount of CO2 that may be emitted by burning certain fossil fuels.  The “trade” refers to the ability of rights to emit to be sold as commodities.

This is essentially a system to ration the use of oil, gas and coal in the U.S.  The result will be significantly higher prices for electricity and gasoline.  That makes this system a regressive tax (that’s starting to be a pattern).  And by adding such costs to domestic manufacturing, the bill will force companies to move offshore, adding yet more job losses to our already dour economic environment.  This is yet another Democratic proposal that America cannot afford.

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