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Jim: jdipeso@rep.org
(253) 740-2066 / 2010
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Lindsey Graham's Reality Check
March 2, 2010
A
number of influential senators, such as North Dakota Democrat Byron
Dorgan, have made it plain that they want Congress to forget about
passing legislation limiting emissions of greenhouse gases that trap
heat and alter the climate.
Pass an "energy-only" bill, Dorgan
and others argue. Legislation that includes, say, a national renewable
portfolio standard would push the ball forward on low-carbon energy,
sideline the Wall Street sharks poised to feast on carbon allowance
markets, and make for a notable bipartisan achievement in a city that
needs to rediscover the art of cross-aisle deal-making.
Senator
Lindsey Graham, with his pointed comment about passing a "half-assed"
energy bill, has little use for the "energy-only" notion. In providing
a necessary reality check, the South Carolina Republican pointed out
that the squeaky clean technologies stand little chance of out-muscling
the carbon-heavy incumbents oil and coal unless oil and coal no longer
can use the atmosphere as a free garbage can.
Graham’s reality
check, offered in Thomas Friedman’s New York Times column of February
27, deserves to be reprinted in its entirety: "The technology doesn’t
make sense until you price carbon. Nuclear power is a bet on cleaner
air. Wind and solar is a bet on cleaner air. You make those bets
assuming that cleaning the air will become more profitable than leaving
the air dirty, and the only way it will be so is if the government puts
some sticks on the table — not just carrots. The future economy of
America and the jobs of the future are going to be tied to cleaning up
the air, and in the process of cleaning up the air this country becomes
energy independent and our national security is greatly enhanced."
Graham
has it right. A price on carbon is the game changer essential for
setting in motion economic drivers essential for rewriting America’s
energy playbook.
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