Successive Congresses and the Bush administration have rejected participation in the Kyoto Accord to reduce emissions of gases associated with global warming because of fears that it would have a serious impact on the American economy.

But it turns out that was an exaggeration. The Energy Information Administration, an independent arm of the Energy Department, has run the numbers on the impact of caps on energy-related releases of carbon dioxide, methane emissions from coal mines and several other gases related to climate change. What it found is that the impact would be quite modest, about $78 annually per household using a market-based approach, or about a one-tenth of 1 percent reduction of the gross domestic product in 2025.

And it would reduce the gross domestic product in 2025 by four- tenths of 1 percent if, as recommended by the National Commission on Energy Policy, the country:

* Increased the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks by 36 percent between 2010 and 2015.

* Doubled to $3 billion the budget for new tax incentives for gasifying coal and building nuclear plants.

While there are costs associated with reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, such a transition will also lead to the development of entire new industries that could generate enormous economic, as well as environmental, benefits.

The climate-change challenge, as can be seen, is very much a clean-energy challenge. The good news is that higher gas prices have gotten the attention of the president. In a speech on energy today, President Bush is expected to call for greater efforts to conserve energy.

What that will mean in practical terms remains to be seen, but it is becoming increasingly apparent that the twin issues of climate change and affordable energy are intertwined.

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