This week the U.S. Senate is debating bipartisan legislation introduced by Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA) that would reduce greenhouse gas pollution through a market-based cap & trade system. Critics say given rising gas prices and the state of our economy now is the worst time to take up the bill (a headline in the New York Times, of all places, even called it “politically risky”).
Actually, there’s no better time.
Today’s soaring gas prices at the pump are largely the result of our addiction to foreign oil. Cap & trade will stimulate the development of new clean-energy innovations that can compete with oil and cut our demand for it. That’s not only good for lower prices at the pump, but it will also cut the flow of U.S. dollars to the Middle East and other parts of the world that don’t think highly of America (like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela).
Giving entrepreneurs and forward-thinking businesses the profit incentive to develop these clean-energy innovations would create new energy industries, new technical jobs, and new opportunities for companies to make money in a less carbon-intensive environment – and that would actually be good for our economy.
And let’s not forget that we’ve heard all this fear-mongering before when the first President Bush joined a Democrat-controlled Congress in using cap & trade to solve the acid rain problem. Critics warned it would cost too much and cause economic ruin, but cap & trade successfully reduced sulfur dioxide emissions at a mere fraction of what the critics predicted.
No, I disagree with the Times that the Lieberman-Warner bill is “politically risky.” I believe a vote for the bill is a vote for more stable and affordable energy supplies, stronger national security and a world-leading economy. And it’s good politics for conservatives who wish to attract independents who typically (but not currently) trust Republicans on national security and the economy.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008 at 8:39 am and is filed under Alternative Energy Technology, Cap and Trade, Climate Change, Eco-Business Strategies, Oil and Gas, Politics/Government . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 4th, 2008 at 9:00 am
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