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  David Roberts is exactly right

  Cap-and-trade is politically viable, and a carbon tax is not. "Carbon tax" even sounds like a phrase tailor made for Republicans to whip the media into a frenzy. You think the public doesn't care about global warming now, just wait until there's a crazy new tax for it. Forget it. Non-starter.

  Let's try a thought experiment.

  First, imagine Republicans demagoguing against a carbon tax. For good measure, imagine them going one further, by calling it a "green tax" and taking down the whole green movement in the process. They'll fill cable news with scare stories of working families going broke at the pump, all thanks to Al Gore's new green tax.

  Now imagine Republicans on cable news, trying to argue against cap-and-trade. First they would have to explain it, and hope that the public will have a visceral response against the arcane technical details of an emissions trading regime. It's just not going to happen. The public will yawn, and the bill will pass.

  A cap-and-trade plan would be highly effective, our president supports it (and even campaigned on it), and Congress won't run screaming like they would with a carbon tax.

  Heck, as a bonus, McCain supports cap-and-trade; he campaigned on it too. Which means we're virtually guaranteed a filibuster proof majority on any bill that reaches the Senate.

  Let's get 'er done.
  On There's a reason Republicans stump for a carbon tax, and it ain't to reduce emissions posted 9 months, 3 weeks ago 37 Responses

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  Biden and rail

  Another interesting point is that Biden has been a champion of Amtrak for years, pushing back against right wing efforts to defund it. He commutes by rail every morning to Washington from Delaware, and his son is on Amtrak's board.

  All in all, we can expect a pro-environment administration, one that understands global warming in a national security context, and understands that going green is good for jobs and good for the economy. And we should expect a greater emphasis on rail and public transit.

  I have to a say, for enviros, this is shaping up to be a pretty hot ticket.On Enviros generally pleased with Biden's record on environmental issues posted 1 year, 2 months ago 6 Responses

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  ugh.

  Nader is a lightweight on this issue. The cap-and-trade plan (with 80% CO2 emissions reduction and a 100% credit auction) proposed by both major Democrats is far superior to a carbon tax. What's worse is that he buys the "offsets are indulgences" frame, rather than using critical thinking to analyze their benefits and deficiencies.

  And with today's speech from Obama linking foreign policy and the Iraq war with global warming, we're seeing that the Democrats understand both the stakes and the best strategy in far more depth than cranky uncle Nader. It's time to give up the illusion that he's relevant.On An interview with Ralph Nader about his presidential platform on energy and the environment posted 1 year, 8 months ago 9 Responses

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  Speaking as an ex-Green

  I've realized the complete pointlessness of their party. If both the voters and the government they elect keep reinforcing the two party system, then the only conclusion is that we're stuck with it. And is it really such a terrible thing? Even in countries with multi-party systems, you end up with a left coalition and a right coalition, essentially the same result as a two party system. Considering the problems we have in the world right now, changing a flawed political system to a different but still flawed political system seems frivolous to me.

  The bottom line is that the Green party fails to understand that in order to enact an agenda, you need (a) a coherent agenda and (b) a path to obtaining powering. Whether or not the Greens have (a) is arguable, but it's clear that they lack (b).

  The best mechanism for bringing "third party" issues to center stage is during the party primaries. Dennis Kucinich has been successful at this, acting as the default "Green" candidate in the Democratic primary. Even though I don't vote for Kucinich, candidates like him help include other points of view into the debate and into the party platform, but without acting as a spoiler.

  It's the whole "crashing the gate" strategy. If you don't like the dominant power structure, take it over from within. You'll never get anywhere by sitting on the margins and grousing. Which is exactly what the Green party does.

  So in that sense, the Green party does not participate in democracy; it heckles democracy, from a safe distance. If we had a different political system, like a parliamentary system, then fine, vote Green till the cows come home. But that's not the system we have. So use the primary process to get your candidates and ideas into power, or at the very least, get them into the debate. On What is the Green Party up to, exactly? posted 1 year, 10 months ago 23 Responses

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  Way to miss the point

  KevinMichael, you're dead wrong, and I'm going to have to assume you're trolling.

  You see, there's this little thing called "policy" that decides what choices are even available in the first place to the 1-2 billion people who you think should look in the mirror.

  And guess who decides what that policy is? That's right, our elected officials in government, like George W. Bush. Elected officials who make bad policy absolutely deserve to be blamed, for the simple reason that it's their fault.

  Blame everyone else all you want, but right now the choices for most people in America are either (1) drive to work and heat their homes or (2) lose their jobs and freeze to death in the dark.

  And that's why we have government. To recognize problems and provide a better set of choices. Something which George W. Bush has utterly failed at doing. Hence, he gets the blame. He deserves it. When you suck at your job, people tend to blame you for stuff that goes wrong on your watch.On Vote for the most villainous eco-villain of 2007 posted 1 year, 11 months ago 21 Responses