A new study by EnSys Energy on the impact of the Waxman-Markey bill on US refiners underlines how hard it is going to be to reduce global warming. That is not the point of the study. The study by the global consulting firm homed in on the fact that investment in US refining capacity could plummet if the bill becomes law because the cost of doing business could soar:

Production at US refineries would drop while production at refineries in countries that do not limit their own greenhouse gas emissions would rise. The impact on global refinery greenhouse gas emissions would be minor as reductions in US emissions mostly would be offset by increases in emissions in other countries.

Not to mention that more emissions would be incurred in importing the foreign-refined products into the US. According to the EnSys study, which was commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s national trade organization, the US would need to increase its imports of petroleum fuels in order to meet as much as nearly one-fifth of US refined product demand in 2030 if the House climate bill becomes law – double what imports would otherwise have been.