<![CDATA[Grist - Comment Feed for McCain campaign clarifies (some of) McCain’s climate malapropisms]]> Grist Comment Feed en Comment #1 by Max8806 http://www.grist.org/article/two-out-of-three-aint-bad/ Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:27:50 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/two-out-of-three-aint-bad/1 More disingenuous than dumb

I think he's just trying (very poorly) to differentiate his (and everyones) cap/trade from individual quotas or command and control.  That was my first thought when I read Kate's quotes, and then that's what the campaign says.  Its true that an economy-wide cap is more flexible than quotas on individual plants.  He's still being a bit disingenuous because each individual plant MUST retire an allowance for every ton of CO2 it emits.  So there is a real binding obligation on every major facility in the country, despite the flexibility of being able to buy some of those allowances from other facilities.  I think this is more just disingenuous than evidence that he truly doesn't understand it.  Which is not to say he's an expert.  Still, this would be a great chance for Obama to call him out in a debate, to be more honest about the implications of his own program.

On the topic of not understanding cap and trade - Bill Richardson.  He answered in one of the Democratic debates that he prefers a cap/trade to CO2 tax because 'a carbon tax is a cost that will be passed onto consumers.'  (Obama corrected him immediately that cap/trade incurs a cost as well).  How was this fool Secretary of Energy?    

]]> More disingenuous than dumb

I think he's just trying (very poorly) to differentiate his (and everyones) cap/trade from individual quotas or command and control.  That was my first thought when I read Kate's quotes, and then that's what the campaign says.  Its true that an economy-wide cap is more flexible than quotas on individual plants.  He's still being a bit disingenuous because each individual plant MUST retire an allowance for every ton of CO2 it emits.  So there is a real binding obligation on every major facility in the country, despite the flexibility of being able to buy some of those allowances from other facilities.  I think this is more just disingenuous than evidence that he truly doesn't understand it.  Which is not to say he's an expert.  Still, this would be a great chance for Obama to call him out in a debate, to be more honest about the implications of his own program.

On the topic of not understanding cap and trade - Bill Richardson.  He answered in one of the Democratic debates that he prefers a cap/trade to CO2 tax because 'a carbon tax is a cost that will be passed onto consumers.'  (Obama corrected him immediately that cap/trade incurs a cost as well).  How was this fool Secretary of Energy?    

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