Cap and Trade

From an economic standpoint, the proposed cap and trade program for emissions seems to make sense. Monetizing the right to emit pollutants places a cost on emissions that is borne most by the those that emit the most. That said, the "cap" component is subject to abuse. During times of economic downturn, everyone is scratching their heads as to how to get some more dollars to flow through the economy. It is all too easy to simply set a high cap, or subsequently raise the cap, to allow more pollutants to be emitted into the environment. Accordingly, we allow some more dollars to flow into the economy at the direct expense of our environment.

From a perspective of better protecting our environment, safeguarding our air, water, mountains, forests, oceans, and ultimately our Earth, we should not rush toward monetization and the issuance of "licenses to pollute".

National Wilderness

Now that H.R. 146 has cleared both the Senate and House, I am hopeful that President Obama will sign it into law. H.R. 146 will set aside more than 2 million acres of desert and forest in nine states for conservation and protection.