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Climate Bill Doesn't Go Far Enough

By Harry Kimball, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 27, 2009 5:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – The Waxman-Markey climate change bill isn’t as bad for business as its detractors claim, and “that’s the problem,” Bryan Walsh writes in Time. Because of concessions to coal and farm states that depend on the carbon economy, the bill is watered down and seeks to achieve emission reduction through efficiency and offsets. “But carbon offsets are dicey, and may not actually provide the emissions reductions they claim to.”

In fact, some opponents from the environmentalist camp think Waxman-Markey could be worse for the environment than no bill at all. Sure, industry critics “have vastly overstated the likely cost. In fact, they're all but lying.” That’s cold comfort for Walsh, who hopes for more decisive action. “If this is the most that is politically possible in America, we're in trouble, because climate change demands far more.”

[Images (3)]

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GOP representatives wait for the start of a news conference on the Waxman-Markey climate change legislation. (AP Photo)

The Conoco Oil Refinery in Rodeo, Calif. (AP Photo)

A flock of geese flying past a smokestack at the Jeffery Energy Center coal power plant near Emmitt, Kan. (AP Photo)

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This won't get us to where we need to go. It should be a key goal to see renewable energy get picked up under this bill, but it's not happening. That's pretty demoralizing. - Michael Shellenberger, the Breakthrough Institute

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