Permit Allocation

Making lemonade

What to do with the utility handouts in the climate bill? 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago One compromise more than any other enabled the Waxman-Markey bill to navigate the sticky regional politics of the Energy & Commerce Committee, and then the House floor. That same compromise built a bridge between coal-state Dems and industry, utilities and environmentalists. Dave Roberts handicaps the LDC option.
As good as it'll get

Boxer-Kerry climate bill: what to watch for 2
Posted 2 months ago Sens. Boxer and Kerry plan to introduce their climate bill tomorrow. I'm in NYC and DC this week, so it's been tough to find time to write, but here are a few brief notes on what to watch for.
Garbage in, garbage out, journalists in between, all but useless

Treasury memo hysteria shows media incapable of screening out junk 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Is any piece of nonsense from right-wing opponents of clean energy policy too silly, too outrageous, to get its day in the national press spotlight? It would seem not.

Last week, CBS conservo-blogger Declan McCullagh breathlessly reported: "Obama Admin: Cap And Trade Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year." That figure spread like wildfire through right-wing blogs, then jumped to Glenn Beck, and eventually reached The Washington Post. Now Republican lawmakers are repeating it.

The number is completely and utterly misleading. At least in reference to current policy options, it's a lie. But now it's out there, forever part of conservative mythology and forever a "controversy" in the eyes of the establishment media. Is there any way it could have been stopped? Is there any way the next lie can be stopped?
Boucher: "Industry needs and wants a bill to pass"

Could Waxman and Markey have used the EPA threat more effectively? 28
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Should Waxman and Markey have kicked off House climate bill negotiations with a stronger ask?

The bill they introduced was effectively the USCAP proposal, which already reflected years of negotiation and compromise. The idea was that the difficult work of negotiations had already been done -- enviros and business both on board! -- and it would be easy for conservative Dems (and a few Republicans) to sign off on it.

Of course that's not what has happened. Republicans are balking en masse. Conservative Dems have compromised the bill down further, and by all indications will further weaken it in the Senate. Could the bill have ended up in a stronger place if it had started in a stronger place?
Flattening the U

The senator from Montana and the middle class 0
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
This morning, the Senate took its final step on climate change before its summer vacation—a hearing pulled together by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus from Montana on how carbon allowances are allocated under the Waxman-Markey bill. The main takeaway: Under the House bill, the middle class does the heavy lifting to pay for the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The focus of the hearing was how the Senate can improve the allocation of the carbon allowances, which are likely to be worth more than $100 billion per year. Dallas Burtraw, a senior economist at Resources for the Future, testified on how Waxman-Markey will hit American's pocketbooks. Through his research, Burtraw found that the bill does a pretty good job of protecting the poorest 20% and the richest 10% of Americans. But everyone in the middle ends up bearing the brunt of the costs.
Plague of economists continues

Martin Feldstein uses Washington Post op-ed page for cap-and-trade scare-mongering 13
Posted 5 months, 4 weeks ago
Harvard economist Martin Feldstein has an op-ed in the Washington Post claiming that cap-and-trade will cost American families $1,600 each. That's only true if you ignore ... oh, so many things!
Poor design creates zero sum game

Waxman-Markey giveaways pit consumer protection against climate protection 3
Posted 6 months ago
Waxman-Markey supposedly requires a large percent of the savings from free permits to be passed along to consumers. The intent is that they act as protection against price increases rather than a source of profits for large companies. Unfortunately, to the extent this works, it is likely to dampen the price signals that are supposed to help emissions. Equally unfortunately, these provisions are much harder to enforce than appears at first glance.
No ponies

Waxman-Markey permit allocation plan: could be worse 4
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Reps. Waxman and Markey have released the text of their compromise climate and energy bill, including the proposal for allocating pollution permits. It's not awful.
Waxman and Markey divvy up the goods — I wish my parents had given me allowances like this! 1
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Thoughts on how pollution permits are allocated in the just-released Waxman-Markey bill.