This is the second in a series of posts on the Contract From America. Read the first one—on Agenda Item 1—here.

The second item on the “Contract From America” (including the level of support it received in a voting process) is:

2. Reject Cap & Trade

Stop costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation’s global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures. (72.20%)

Climate change is a controversial issue every which way. The Tea Party’s manifesto has certainly picked its side.

First the basics: What the heck is “cap-and-trade”?

Cap-and-trade is when the government limits (“caps”) the amount of emissions of greenhouse gasses and hydrofluorocarbons that business may produce, then issues tradeable credits for those emissions (“trade”).

The idea is to force industries to find the most efficient ways they can to reduce these gasses and improve the environment.

But as we noted last year in a post called “Costing Out Cap-and-Trade,” this kind of regulation don’t come cheap. The two major cap-and-trade bills are H.R. 2998 and H.R. 2454, both called the “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.” They both would cost the average U.S. family about $13,000 if they pass.

Another bill is S. 1733, the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (about $12,600 per U.S. family).

Would they affect the climate? We have no idea. We’re much better with the difficult art of estimating the costs of legislation and regulation than the impossible art of estimating future changes in the climate.

But if you generally oppose environmental regulations or doubt the scientific claims behind global warming, you probably like this agenda item. If you are worried about the environment and see big national investments in protecting it as the way to go, well, you wouldn’t like this part of the Contract—not one bit.

Below are the current WashingtonWatch.com votes on the three bills. Click to vote, comment, learn more, or read the wiki articles about the bills.