Is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) a trojan horse? He was supposed to bring bipartisanship to the climate change debate in the U.S. Senate. Now he is running around saying "Cap and Trade is dead." His supposed partners, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) should take him aside and remind him that the only real alternative to Cap and Trade is taxes. Nobody wants more taxes. The Center opposes increasing taxes as a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation tool. Cap and Trade is the way to go and the success of the Acid Rain Program proves it.
Republicans, environmental justice activists and much of industry oppose Cap and Trade legislation even as they admit that climate change is a very serious environmental problem. Some mainstream environmentalists are also willing to jettison Cap and Trade in order to get legislation before the midterm elections. This is ridiculous. What happened? Last year this time, Cap and Trade looked like a sure thing. If we have to wait until after the midterm elections to get Cap and Trade legislation, so be it, because it is the only real solution to adequately addressing the problem. And it is market-based. Republicans seem to have forgotten this since they supported the Cap and Trade Clear Skies Initiative during the Bush administration.
Is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) a trojan horse? He was supposed to bring bipartisanship to the climate change debate in the U.S. Senate. Now he is running around saying "Cap and Trade is dead." His supposed partners, Senators John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn) should take him aside and remind him that the only real alternative to Cap and Trade is taxes. Nobody wants more taxes. The Center opposes increasing taxes as a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation tool. Cap and Trade is the way to go and the success of the Acid Rain Program proves it.
Republicans, environmental justice activists and much of industry oppose Cap and Trade legislation even as they admit that climate change is a very serious environmental problem. Some mainstream environmentalists are also willing to jettison Cap and Trade in order to get legislation before the midterm elections. This is ridiculous. What happened? Last year this time, Cap and Trade looked like a sure thing. If we have to wait until after the midterm elections to get Cap and Trade legislation, so be it, because it is the only real solution to adequately addressing the problem. And it is market-based. Republicans seem to have forgotten this since they supported the Cap and Trade Clear Skies Initiative during the Bush administration.
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