By any name, it's a bad bill

It is beyond unbelievable that Washington continues to press ahead with job-killing “cap and trade” energy legislation as the country drags itself from recession with unemployment still hovering just below 10 percent.

The latest version is sponsored by Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who insisted at a recent press conference that the “American Power Act” isn’t “cap and trade.”

Well, they can dress it up all they want but the underlying principles are the same as the last failed scheme: Regulating and cutting carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases for the supposed purpose of curbing global warming.

The two senators are playing up claims that the bill will reduce oil imports and create millions of green energy jobs, but it is widely recognized that carbon limits — called “allowances” that can be traded through market exchanges — will translate to an energy tax on industries that will be passed down all the way to American consumers. And the bill will have disproportionate effects on coal and petroleum states like Montana.

Dave Wheelihan, chief executive of the Montana Electric Cooperatives Association, told the Billings Gazette that the proposed law poses a likelihood of increased energy bills.

“It’s still cap-and-trade. That’s why our national association is busy crunching numbers,” he said.

Regarding last year’s cap-and-trade legislation, NorthWestern Energy warned that home utility bills could increase by $225 annually. Who knows what the collective impacts on businesses might be, but it’s pretty obvious that increased costs will probably translate to job losses rather than job creation.

Sure, there is likely to be job creation in a new bureaucracy to govern the cap-and-trade system, but that is no help to the private-sector economy.

Why this is so important to Washington Democrats is hard to grasp. China, India and other developing countries certainly aren’t going to choke their growing economies with similar regulation. And Australia, New Zealand and several European countries have already backed away from the cap-and-trade precipice.

Even if the American Power Act doesn’t clear Congress, Americans should still be wary and worried. The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing new emissions regulations for manufacturers and power plants under new powers that it declared for itself.

The president of the American Iron and Steel Institute warns that the new regulations “will impose significant new costs on manufacturing industries at the worst possible time” and that the rules “arbitrarily picks winners and losers.”

Winners and losers. The losers will be American businesses and consumers, at a time when Washington should be trying to help them.