For a good discussion of the history of cap and trade that might also help explain how crucial it is that permits be auctioned rather than given away see this Australian Broadcasting Corp show which is a podcast and transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/rearvision/stories/2009/2499999.htm

One quote, summing up what happens if permits are given away as mandated by Waxman-Markey:

“So what happens is that in the end you have a system which is a polluter gains, or a polluter wins system rather than a polluter pays system.”

Coal industry spokespeople are supportive of Waxman-Markey because of this fact. They’ve changed the system to polluter wins right in front of Romm and they’ve still got Romm on board selling the plan.

The other striking thing about the bill is that the EPA power to regulate carbon, so recently confirmed by the Supreme Court, is taken away.

In the light of the assessment James Hansen made that unless the composition of the atmosphere is stabilized and the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is brought down to levels last seen around the 1980s (the 350 ppm CO2 target), the planetary system will remain committed to no ice at the poles, this Waxman-Markey bill is a tragic joke.

Take the proposed Waxman-Markey US emission target for 2050, turn it into a per capita emission level for the entire world population, do the math, and you have global greenhouse gas forcing increasing dramatically every year up to and beyond 2050.

I’m with Romm when he says “pass a friggin bill”, but it is a serious mistake to line up with industry and speak so positively about it. He thinks he is being an advocate for what is politically possible, but he forgets that politics can be about changing what is possible.

The guy who came closest to saying what was in my heart spoke near the end of the Earthbeat “Roundtable on Waxman-Markey” show May 21. Carroll Muffett of Greenpeace USA said his organization cannot support Waxman-Markey as it stands. He called out to all who have a concern:

“People will have to speak out. There comes a point where current law and current policy are so at odds with the dictates of science, and the dictates of justice and the dictates of morality, that people have to make themselves heard. And there’s a generation of Americans coming up, and its not just young people anymore, for whom this is that issue. If people want to see this have a different outcome, they have to speak out, and they have to demand more.”

And the buzz on natural gas is false…. it is not and never will be “clean burning”. It’s a fossil fuel. It emits CO2. It should not replace coal.