Something is going to happen in 2011 that is going to FORCE the Congress to put a price on carbon and that is that the EPA is going to regulate the HELL out of CO2.
As a result, I wouldn't be surprised if indeed a climate legislation bill will be passed in the lameduck Congressional session because the business community fears the EPA's regulation MORE than a price on carbon.
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/...
The Supreme Court ruled 3 years ago that carbon dioxide can be considered a pollutant and can be regulated. In 2011 the EPA is expected to regulate the HELL out of carbon dioxide which will force the business community to make a choice: endure STIFF regulations or make put carbon pricing on the market.
Joe Klein at Time makes this point.
There Will Be An Energy Bill...soon.
Why? Because there is a Supreme Court ruling, now three years old, that carbon dioxide is a poison that needs to be cleaned up. Next year, the Environmental Protection Agency will begin regulating the hell out of Co2. The business community won't like that, nor will many Republicans.
Many Senators realize this.
Maria Cantwell:
"Putting a price on carbon is the only alternative," says Senator Maria Cantwell, who has offered a bill--with Maine Republican Susan Collins as co-sponsor--that would force the 2000 top polluters to participate in an auction to purchase the right to spew; 75% of the income would be returned as a "dividend" to taxpayers, the other 25% would go to alternative energy. "There's no question that we will have a bill before the EPA regulations kick in."
Lindsey Graham:
(Senator Lindsey Graham told me something very similar a few months ago and said he was certain that more than a few of his Republican colleagues would vote for putting a price on carbon.)
I personally think that too many Conservadems are running scared before the midterm elections to go on record this year. However, the prospect of the EPA regulations in 2011 will FORCE both moderate Dems and moderate Repubs to put a price on carbon because the business community will push them in the end.
Joe Klein's thoughts on the failure (so far) of passing climate legislation in 2010.
And so, yesterday's death of environmental legislation should be considered a pre-election maneuver. Given a choice between taxes and potentially punitive regulations, the wise--the more elegant; the less expensive--choice is a tax every time. (Which is why I'm disappointed that there wasn't a tax on toxic financial-derivative trading in the Financial Reform bill.) It is an essential conservative principle: you tax the things you want to discourage. Pollution is certainly one; dependence on foreign fossil fuels is another--and that's why I hope the next iteration of energy legislation is called: The National Defense Conservation Act.
Even if a climate change bill with a price on carbon some how does not pass in 2010 or 2011, the EPA will see to it that the United States will be FORCED to go the clean energy route because carbon will be so heavily regulated.
FOLKS, THE GREEN ECONOMY IS COMING..