The outlines of a bill considered a frontrunner in the Senate, to be co-sponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent who caucuses with Democrats, and John Warner (R-Va.), calls for 20 percent of the credits to be auctioned. The other 80 percent, which would be allocated free, would be worth billions in the market that would be created. Some environmental groups are calling for a 100 percent auction of credits.The cap-and-auction solution is infinitely preferable to the cap-and-handout system, though I'm basically lukewarm on cap-and-trade systems generally. But whatever we choose -- carbon taxes or cap-and-trade -- either is preferable to nothing.
Lieberman, following a forum sponsored by the Progressive Policy Institute Wednesday, said such a change to his legislation was possible. “We’ve heard [calls for a 100 percent auction] from some stakeholders and heard that from some of our members. We’re thinking about it. Warner and I haven’t closed our minds to that. It’s on the table,” he said.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Cautious optimism...
Jesus. I might have to sing the praises of Joe Lieberman. That's gonna need a shower.
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This is pretty good for a plan coming from two Republicans. It's what a healthy Republican party would be standing behind while a healthy Democratic party would be pushing for something more aggressive.
Lieberman is pretty decent for a moderate Republican on a lot of issues. With anything related to the Middle East he becomes a frothing-at-the-mouth batshit crazy lunatic, but otherwise he's got a good, moderate Republican voting record.
(Don't mind me - I'm still convinced that William Jefferson Clinton was the best Republican president we've had since Ike.)
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