Thankfully, the argument over the “if” of global warming is over, and new debates are springing up over the “how” of fixing the problem.
The online environmental journal Grist is running a three-part series looking at two proposals that offer practical but ambitious ways to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in the U.S.
On the Commons Senior Fellow Peter Barnes’ proposes a “Cap and Dividend” plan in which revenues generated through a process of capping and reducing carbon emissions would be put in a trust and distributed to all American households to help them cope with higher energy prices.
Sean Casten, CEO of a green energy firm, proposes output-based standards, in which strict standards are applied to power plants. Any facility not meeting those standards must pay for excess pollution, and any below the standards will be rewarded for their good deeds.
In the end, author David Roberts leans toward cap and dividend because it is more politically viable, even though he sees it as less efficient than output-based standards. The series has sparked a long and lively sequence of reader comments.