  We present quantitative and qualitative arguments in favor of the claim that,
within the present cosmological epoch, the U(1)$_Y$ factor in the Standard
Model is an effective manifestation of SU(2) pure gauge dynamics of Yang-Mills
scale $\Lambda\sim 10^{-4}$ eV. Results for the pressure and the energy density
in the deconfining phase of this theory, obtained in a nonperturbative and
analytical way, support this connection in view of large-angle features
inherent in the map of the CMB temperature fluctuations and
temperature-polarization cross correlations.
