SAN DIEGO -- Calling it "no cap and all tax," U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray blasted a bill passed last week in the House that would set the nation's first limits on pollution linked to global warming.

Bilbray made his remarks at a San Diego North Chamber of Commerce breakfast Tuesday morning attended by about two dozen small business owners and others.

Friday's passage of the "cap and trade" proposal was hailed by President Barack Obama and other top Democrats as a bill that would create green jobs and put the country on a path toward creating a 21st-Century global economy.

The legislation would require the U.S. to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020 and by 80 percent by mid-century.

Republicans were overwhelmingly against the measure, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, arguing it would destroy jobs in the midst of a recession while burdening consumers with a new tax in the form of higher energy costs. The House vote was 219-212.

"The fact is the bill does not cap emissions," Bilbray said. "It creates a system of indulgences … permits to pollute."

North County's all-Republican delegation, including Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, and Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, voted against the bill. Southwest Riverside County Republican Mary Bono Mack was one of eight Republicans who joined the largely Democratic-majority in support of the measure.

Under the bill, the government would limit pollution from factories, refineries and power plants and issue allowances for polluters.

Most of the allowances would be given away, but about 15 percent would be auctioned by bid and the proceeds used to defray higher energy costs for lower-income individuals and families.

Supporters and opponents agreed the bill's result would be higher energy costs, but disagreed on the impact on consumers. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost an average household $175 a year; the EPA estimate was $80 to $110 a year.

Hunter criticized the legislation's passage, pointing to the increased cost to families.

"With so many families struggling to make ends meet, there is absolutely no rational argument for pushing forward legislation that imposes new taxes and costs on energy consumption and causes more jobs to go to countries like India and China," Hunter said Tuesday in a written statement.

The final bill also contained concessions to satisfy farm-state lawmakers, some of them so late that they were not made public until 3 a.m. Friday, Bilbray said.

"The greatest threat to the environment right now is all the smoke coming from the backroom deals that created this product," he said.

During his hourlong talk, Bilbray also criticized congressional efforts to reform health care. He said the cost of a national health care system would be huge. He said that unlike smaller countries that have national plans, such as Canada and England, the U.S. population is much larger.

"We're talking about 350 million people basically corraled into one system," Bilbray said. "That number is the largest health care structure in the history of the world, except for the Soviet Union. And we know what happened to the Soviet Union."

Jim Hernandez, who owns a small consulting business, said he agreed with Bilbray because of the high cost in taxes to pay for a national health care plan.

"I moved here from Canada and I get people telling me all that time that we should be more like Canada," Hernandez said. "One of the motivators to move here from Canada was the fact that (Canadian) health care sucks."

He added: "I came here. I work hard. I pay for my own health care insurance and even though I am paying for my own health care, I'm saving thousands of dollars a year."

Call staff writer Edward Sifuentes at 760-740-3511.