Earth Equity News

Dingell's Committee Chewing over Climate Possibilities. Posted by Kate Sheppard, Grist, June 1, 2008. "The world is still waiting with bated breath for climate legislation from the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee chair Rick Boucher (D-Va.) are supposedly collaborating on bill. In the meantime, the committee has been issuing a series of white papers... Last week they released their fourth installment [PDF], Getting the Most Greenhouse Gas Reductions for Our Money, which discusses... cost containment. You can also read Dingell's corresponding memo to colleagues... It's [all] super-wonky reading, but it gives you a sense of where Dingell and Boucher are on climate legislation. [A comment posted by Plaidshift to Sheppard's post went like this: 'I cannot believe the haste with which they dismiss a carbon tax in these white papers. A 2008 CBO report could not have made it any more clear that a carbon tax is the most cost efficient way to reduce emissions... [In] Getting the Most Greenhouse Gas Reductions for Our Money... a carbon tax is not even mentioned. Talk about a letdown...']"