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An Inconvenient Truth: Waxman-Markey climate bill in trouble
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Is an imperfect climate bill (Waxman-Markey) better than no bill at all? Al Gore says yes.
To bring environment supporters together, Gore will host a nationwide conference call on June 23 at 8 p.m. ET. The purpose, according to his Repower America e-mail sent to a selected audience, is “to build urgency around this bill and make sure it passes. We have to go to the grassroots – we have to continue building support in communities across the nation.”
“As this climate legislation moves before the full Congress this summer, we have an opportunity unlike anything we’ve seen yet,” the e-mail concludes.
Gore has his work cut out for him. A significant number of congressional Democrats oppose the bill and green groups are divided on it. Republicans roundly reject the bill, with arguments predictably running along the lines of “If there isn’t a problem (global warming), why fix it?” and "the bill would hurt the economy."
It’s disappointing that this extraordinary piece of legislation could fall by the wayside. And because some Democrats and green groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, the very groups expected to support it, are finding reasons to oppose it.
The major sticking point is the cap-and-trade policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This policy requires big emitters such as automobile manufacturers and power plants to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by a certain amount, gradually falling over time. Companies that make deeper cuts than what is required get a credit that can be traded or sold to other emitters that fail to meet the targets. Cap-and-trade was used with the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments to cut emissions that cause acid rain and was considered a success.
Those who oppose cap-and-trade often prefer a carbon tax, not a popular solution these days and not necessarily more effective, economist Paul Krugman wrote in his May 18 New York Times column.
“Even when polluters get free permits, they still have an incentive to reduce their emissions so that they can sell their excess permits,” wrote Krugman, who agrees with Gore that this bill is vastly better than no bill because it represents a major action to limit climate change.
How much longer can we wait?
For more information on the American Clean Energy & Security Act (Waxman-Markey), click on:
http://www.examiner.com/x-12720-DC-Environmental-Policy-Examiner~y2009m6d17-Allout-blitz-to-support-WaxmanMarkey-bill-VIDEO-OF-AD
