The Limits of Emission Reduction Legislation

A complicated subject, well-navigated by Brian Beutler for the American Prospect. He asks:

Is there a connection to be drawn between the reality of global warming and the wackiness of this past winter? Kevin Trenberth, a respected scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, has pioneered the research on the murky connection between El Niño and global warming, and, in his view, as goes the latter, so goes the former. He expects that winters like this past one will only become more common.

Beulter talks about the bills before Congress, but admits their limits:

All of the bills operate as cap-and-trade policies and none involve a carbon tax. Nor do any of them provide for the creation of a major government program — modeled on the Manhattan Project — devoted to researching the technological developments, large and small, that will be necessary. That’s because neither of those options is yet considered politically achievable.

Evidently another proposal that is not achievable is James Hanson’s idea of a carbon czar, comparable to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, who would look at the big picture, and adjust emission reductions taxes and/or caps depending on the state of the economy and the state of the environment.

Thanks for coming, Jim, but, you know, get real. We value our money more than we value our planet.