http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120724425942086957.html

The International Monetary Fund recently released their economic assessment on mitigating climate change. Their conclusion: extremely aggressive targets will ultimately slow economic growth, a concern many Senators have over the upcoming cap-and-trade legislation.

The policies needed to reduce emissions by 60% from 2002 would leave the global economy about 2.6% smaller than it otherwise would be in 2040, the IMF projected. Even so, the global economy would grow to about 2.3 times its current size between 2007 and 2040, the IMF said.

"There are significant risks from climate change; damages could be severe," said IMF economist Natalia Tamirisa. "The costs of mitigation could be moderate provided that policies are well designed." The IMF highlighted the estimates on climate change in its flagship report, the semiannual World Economic Outlook released on Thursday.

When cap-and-trade hits the Senate floor in June or July, it will be quite a debate over the final overall target emissions reductions.

Wall Street Journal; April 4, 2008

Submitted by B. Shapiro