N.Y. Times Examines Move Away From 'Cap-and-Trade' to Alternatives

The New York Times examined how the "cap-and-trade" oncept has lost its standing as the "energy policy of choice," replaced by a panoply of alternatives--including "cap and dividend"--as critics decried the original concept as "cap-and-tax." The Times noted that "Tea Party followers" were using it "as a symbol of much of what they say is wrong with Washington."

Wrote the Times: "Why did cap and trade die? The short answer is that it was done in by the weak economy, the Wall Street meltdown, determined industry opposition and its own complexity. The idea began as a middle-of-the-road Republican plan to unleash the market to reduce power plant pollution and spur innovation. But when lawmakers tried to apply the concept to the far more pervasive problem of carbon dioxide emissions, it ran into gale-force opposition from the oil industry, conservative groups that portrayed it as an economy-killing tax and lawmakers terrified that it would become a bonanza for Wall Street traders and Enron-style manipulators."

Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp was quoted as saying: "Economywide cap and trade died of what amounts to natural causes in Washington. The term itself became too polarizing and too paralyzing in the effort to win over conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans to try to do something about climate change and our oil dependency."

Competitive Enterprise Institute's Myron Ebell was quoted by the Times as saying: "We turned it into 'cap and tax,' and we turned that into an epithet. We also did a good job of showing that a bunch of big companies--Goldman Sachs, the oil companies, the big utilities--would get windfall profits because they'd been given free ration coupons."

The Times noted that a key alternative on the table currently was crafted by Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, and closely resembles President Obama's campaign notion providing only auctioned permits. Said Cantwell, of Obama's view of the legislative initiative: "He called our bill 'very elegant.' Simplicity and having something people can understand is important."