So Much For Lindsey Graham1

Sorry, but what? The bill that Graham helped write would have included "energy-intensive manufacturers and other industries" under its cap-and-trade system. The authors even designed the program to be far more lenient on industrial polluters than the House bill was. If Graham thought even this was infeasible, why did he craft the policy in the first place? What's changed? (Note that even electric utilities are on board with the Kerry-Lieberman bill, yet Graham still wants to water down the utility provisions.)Office 2007 makes life great!

Also, it's a bit odd to argue that "technology does not yet exist for them to be able to capture and store carbon emissions." Fine, but a cap-and-trade system wouldn't force industrial polluters to capture all of their emissions right away. That's not how it works. The point of carbon trading is that it would force emitters to make gradual reductions over time. They'd presumably start by deploying new energy-efficiency measures and move from there. As the price of carbon rose, new technologies would develop and the market would help sort out how best to reduce pollution at least cost. Simply exempting entire industries until some silver-bullet technology magically appears is a terrible idea.Office 2007 download is on sale now!

Honestly, Graham's complaints here are ridiculous. The differences between the bill he wrote and the bill as it exists now are relatively trivial. His main complaint seems to be that Congress isn't embarking on an offshore drilling free-for-all. Well, sure. That's what happens when an oil company poisons large swathes of the Gulf of Mexico. It's going to be hard to get any major new drilling incentives passed right now. That's not some inherent flaw in the climate bill—it's just an indication that some of his colleagues actually seem to be learning or thing or two from the BP fiasco. This whole episode really makes you wonder if Graham was ever serious about energy and climate policy in the first place.Office 2010 key is for you now!

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