George W. Bush fought global warming policy all the way to the Supreme Court. And he lost. Despite this judicial rebuke, he opposed climate-change legislation to the end. Now, with President Obama, White House views on global warming finally are in line with scientific data. But this doesn't mean that politics can't still trump science.
Congressional response to the climate crisis has taken shape in the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act. The bill has a lot to like. It sets efficiency standards, encourages alternative energy and establishes emissions ceilings on vehicles, industries and power companies by 2020.
However, key provisions of Waxman-Markey resemble earlier European efforts, and Europe's experience raises serious questions about the ability of this legislation to adequately cut emissions or fund green solutions.
The Waxman-Markey bill proposes a market-based "carbon trading" plan that mirrors a European system initiated in 2005. This plan requires polluters to obtain government-issued "carbon credits," which then allow them to pollute above the agreed-on limit.
Think of these pollution credits like a golf handicap. You'd like to shoot 72 on 18 holes, but you rack up 108 on your score card. So just as the hapless golfer would use his handicap to cover the 36-stroke deficit, polluters would use pollution credits to cover their extra emissions. What if a polluter doesn't have 36 credits? Then it must buy them on the open market or pay a penalty. The penalties are expensive, and so the polluter is motivated to find either a solution or more credits.
In theory, money generated by this "carbon market" will jump-start investment in clean technology.
In a recent conference call to climate activists, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) stated that his bill's carbon-trading plan "is based on work by the USCAP." USCAP, or the United States Climate Action Partnership, is a coalition of environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Nature Conservancy and a couple dozen A-list corporations, including General Electric; Duke Energy; oil companies Shell, ConocoPhillips and BP America; chemical companies DuPont and Dow; as well as numerous utilities.
USCAP's carbon-trading plan, which became part of the Waxman-Markey plan, shares key details of the European system -- most importantly, it gives 85% of the pollution credits to the biggest polluters for free.
