The House is scheduled to vote on the Waxman-Markey cap-and-tax bill tomorrow. Only in the bizarro world of Congress can elected representatives pass a massive tax hike in the middle of the worst economic crisis in at least 30 years -- in the form of a bill most of them haven't even read.

There's a lot of debate over just how little -- or how much -- the bill will cost.

For the record, I find any cost assumption that assumes the government will somehow refund the vast majority of the proceeds from the tax to be highly dubious. This standard puts the CBO and EPA estimates under a cloud, since both make this assumption.

All of these issues, however important to your pocketbook, really just obfuscate the real issue. The purpose of this bill is allegedly to combat global warming. Just how much will this reduce global warming by?

You can find the answer on page 10 of this document. [PDF Format]

• Temperature “savings” assuming scenario A1B (mid-range emissions):
• 0.04ºC (0.07ºF) by 2050
• 0.11ºC (0.20ºF) by 2100
• Temperature “savings” assuming scenario A1FI (high emissions):
• 0.06ºC (0.07ºF) by 2050
• 0.20ºC (0.36ºF) by 2100

Even in the worst case scenario, this bill would effectively reduce the global average temperature by a rounding error. With current technology, this reduction in temperature would not even be detectable.

Would anyone in their right mind spend one red cent on a plan that, even if successful, would do basically nothing?

Only if you're in Congress.