Earth Equity News

Attention Cap-and-Trade Fans: The Carbon Tax People Are Not Going Away. By Samantha Thompson, Grist, 11/22/10. “This past weekend, about 500 people gathered at Wesleyan College in Middletown, Conn., for the Pricing Carbon Conference. But most of the participants weren't excited about pricing carbon via cap-and-trade; they were all about carbon taxes… The conference was a virtual who's who of carbon-tax supporters. Four members of the U.S. House spoke -- Reps. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), John Larson (D-Conn.), and Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). So did author and 350.org activist Bill McKibben, climate scientist James Hansen, Carbon Tax Center founder Charles Komanoff, and EPA lawyers and cap-and-trade rebels Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel… The conference also fell short in terms of diversity… Gaining a broader base would undoubtedly help not just the carbon-tax movement, but all environmentalists. Despite its weaknesses, the conference brought together a fantastic group of public-minded citizens and activists to thoughtfully discuss where to take the movement from here. Cap-and-trade isn't the only game in town, they stressed. Not if they have anything to do with it.”