Earth Equity News

Obama's Greenhouse Gas Gamble. By John M. Broder, NYTimes, February 27, 2009. "In proposing mandatory caps on the greenhouse gases linked to global warming and a system for auctioning permits to companies that emit them, President Obama is taking on a huge political and economic challenge. Business lobbies and many Republicans raised loud objections to the cap-and-trade program Mr. Obama proposed as part of his budget this week, saying the plan amounted to a gigantic and permanent tax on oil, electricity and manufactured goods, a shock they said the country could not handle during economic distress. Green groups and supportive members of Congress applauded, saying the proposal was long overdue after eight years of inaction on climate change under President George W. Bush. The costs, they said, would not begin to bite until at least 2012. But the full costs and benefits of controlling greenhouse gas emissions remain unknown, and perhaps unknowable. While there is rough consensus on the science of global warming... there is less agreement on the economics of the problem and very little on the policy prescriptions to address it... Congress has debated versions of a cap-and-trade regime for years but never enacted one, in part because it would become so complex. The House is working on such legislation now; Senate leaders promise action later this year. Mr. Obama laid out only broad principles and targets, and his aides admit that revenue estimates are only a rough guess and will depend on whatever emerges from Congress. The White House projects the program to be in place starting in 2012."