Because Congress isn't in the mood to even discuss climate change, the only climate change legislation will come in the form of Clean Energy Jobs bills. But as free market folks point out (at least in those rare instances when they are being truly free market) money will go to the groups that have the most lobbying clout, not the groups that are creating the most truly green technology.
Hence the ethanol boondoggle.
A truly courageous free market approach would tax carbon in order to allow the market to settle on best alternatives. Make the tax revenue neutral by using the proceeds to reform the tax system.
As it stands, we can only count on climate change responses coming from three directions:
Courageous states like California (If Big Business doesn't sink their plans)
Defense Research(The military can't afford to pretend that there isn't a problem with fossil fuels)
The Obama administration using regulatory methods to mandate cleaner technology through the Clean Air Act.
Otherwise, we can only hope that price trends for fossil fuels go high enough quickly enough to force the market into alternatives. This is happening, but unless we are very lucky, it will happen too slowly.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Wheel of Change
Climate change is happening faster than we are responding. Right now, it seems politically impossible to make the changes we need to make-but in this Dominique Browning interview, Peter Goldmark of the Environmental Defense Fund hopes for a movement of young people in the next generation.
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