Waxman-Markey bill
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How I learned to stop worrying and love Waxman-Markey, Part 1
The Waxman-Markey energy and climate bill is certainly not “da bomb.” At best, it’s a B+. Then again, it is not a total bomb, as some think. So you don’t have to be Dr. Strangelove — or the bill’s mother — to love it. You just have to compare it to the alternative (i.e. utter […]
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Waxman-Markey deal-making update: 14% cut by 2020
“We’re moving well, making a lot of progress on these issues,” Waxman said. “We’re getting very, very close.” We’re starting to hear details of the sausage-making led by chief climate chef House Energy and Commerce Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA). Needless to say, it ain’t pretty. E&E Daily (subs. req’d) reports this morning: Rep. Henry Waxman […]
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Cap-and-trade vs. carbon tax: a bird in hand is worth two on Alpha Centauri
Tax! Cap! Tax! Cap! Pant … I find it really hard to believe, but the perennial “carbon tax vs. cap-and-trade” debate is still going on. It goes on and on and on and it never changes. It’s like everyone’s following a script now. I’ve been over this territory so many times that I hardly know […]
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Memo to James Hansen: Your opposition to Waxman-Markey is ill-conceived and unhelpful
Climate Wire (subs. req’d) reports today: NASA’s leading climate scientist says he hopes that climate legislation proposed by Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman (CA) and Edward Markey (MA) to introduce carbon emissions trading to the United States fails. He says lawmakers should abandon cap-and-trade initiatives altogether and implement a simple carbon tax instead…. “Trading of rights […]
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Climate bill is now a longer shot than ‘Mine That Bird’
It looks like President Obama, the horse whisperer of American politics, is finally going to weigh neigh in to get the mudders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee galloping to the finish line. For people who haven’t been paying close attention, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) keeps dropping bigger and bigger hints that […]
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What does Specter’s party switch mean for climate and energy?
The big news today is Sen. Arlen Specter’s announcement that he’ll be switching parties from Republican to Democrat. For the best analysis of why he did it (basically, he was fated to lose the upcoming primary), see Eric Kleefeld at TPM. The boss man asked me to weigh in from Paris on what it might […]
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Why two climate bills are better than one
As this is written, two House Committees — Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means — are considering climate legislation. Both are following similar timetables, and hope to report bills by June. In the case of Energy and Commerce, chairman Henry Waxman has released a 648-page discussion draft. The draft creates a large and […]
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Towards the Copenhagen climate change agreement: Round One
The international global warming negotiations in Bonn, Germany have just wrapped up. They began with a loud applause as U.S. Special Climate Envoy Todd Stern announced that the U.S. is back. And they ended with the reality of the work that needs to be done over the next 8 months to ensure a strong agreement […]
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Energy portions of Waxman/Markey compensate (in part) for carbon weaknesses
There are some gloomy reactions to the Waxman/Markey bill around the interwebs — see, for instance, Ezra Klein, Matt Yglesias, Kevin Drum, and Brad Plumer. I’m not going to claim the bill is perfect, but I think the pessimism is excessive. It comes down to this: these guys are focusing too much on the carbon […]