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Nearly Half of Nation's Energy Could be Low-Carbon by 2050

After declaring that carbon emissions were a threat to human health, the Environmental Protection Agency has given high marks to the climate bill put forward by the House Energy committee. According to the EPA, the Waxman-Markey bill, also known as the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, will drive the clean energy transformations of the U.S. economy and substantially reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The EPA focused its analysis on the bill's proposed cap-and-trade mechanism. It assumes that carbon prices would range from $13 to $17 a ton in 2015, and would rise by about 5% a year. By 2020, carbon costs would reach $17 to $22 a ton. That is approximately what participants in a European Union cap-and-trade program are currently paying.