Harry Moroz: Changing the Climate for Cities?

While most of the country tries to figure out what health insurance exchanges and health insurance cooperatives are (and what exactly South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was doing in Argentina ), Speaker Pelosi has snuck game-changing climate change legislation onto the House of Representatives calendar for a vote -- and likely passage -- this Friday. In addition to a renewable energy standard, the bill establishes a cap-and-trade system (two, actually: one for greenhouse gases and a separate one for hydrofluorocarbons) designed to reduce emissions 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 compared to 2005 levels. Limited emissions allowances will be both auctioned and sold to polluters, who can then purchase more allowances to emit more or sell allowances that are not needed because of energy efficiency improvements. In recent days, progress on the bill had been stalled by negotiations between Collin Peterson , the Democratic Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and Henry Waxman, Chair of ... (link)