Al Gore, you may recall, said that embracing his global warming Jihad would ultimately be an economic boon. Emissions cuts and other measures are “going to save you money, and it’s going to make the economy stronger” he insisted. He should take a look at today’s Washington Post:

In some ways, Europe’s program has been a success. It covers 45 percent of the continent’s emissions, 10,000 companies and 27 European Union countries. It has built registries that list carbon dioxide emissions for every major plant.
In other ways, the approach has been a bureaucratic morass with a host of unexpected and costly side effects and a much smaller effect on carbon emissions than planned. And many companies complain that it is unfair.
Consider the plight of Kollo Holding’s factory in the Netherlands, which makes silicon carbide, a material used as an industrial abrasive and lining for high-temperature furnaces and kilns. Its managers like to think of their plant as an ecological standout: They use waste gases to generate energy and have installed the latest pollution-control equipment.
But Europe’s program has driven electricity prices so high that the facility routinely shuts down for part of the day to save money on power. Although demand for its products is strong, the plant has laid off 40 of its 130 employees and trimmed production. Two customers have turned to cheaper imports from China, which is not covered by Europe’s costly regulations.
“It’s crazy,” said Kusters, the plant director, as he stood among steaming black mounds of petroleum coke and sand in northern Holland. “We not only have the most energy-efficient plant in the world but also the most environmentally friendly.”