A couple months ago, we told you about a Congressman who introduced a bill that would redistribute the money made from a national carbon cap-and-trade system back to the American people. Well, that may become a pretty popular bill pretty soon, as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has released a report estimating that the cap-and-trade program as detailed in the House’s climate change bill may cost the average household $175 a year. The bill demands that industry reduce their emissions by 17 percent by 2020, which would be done, basically, by raising the price of emitting. And the New York Times‘ Greenwire reports:

“Those higher prices, in turn, would reduce households’ purchasing power,” CBO said in the report, which was requested by House Ways and Means Committee ranking member Dave Camp (R-Mich.). “At the same time, the distribution of emission allowances would improve households’ financial situation.”

But, the improved financial situations, at the outset, would be less than the cost passed on to the consumer. And though the lowest quintile of households by income would see some money back based on the estimates, the higher a household’s income, the more it would owe. Keep in mind, this is money each household would owe in 2020–not anytime in the immediate future.

The highest quintile can expect to see net costs of $245 per year. CBO said the second lowest quintile would see about $40 per year in added costs; $235 for the middle quintile and $340 for the fourth quintile. As of press time, CBO had not explained what income levels constitute a quintile.

While Republicans are decrying the cost, claiming it’s billions of dollars that should not be spent by the American consumer, Democrats are pointing out that “the legislation would be about the same as the cost of a postage stamp a day,” which isn’t that high a cost of energy independence and reducing pollution.

So, is $175 a year worth it? Thoughts?