Washington Post Profiles Peter Barnes

The Washington Post ran a lengthy profile of Peter Barnes yesterday, citing the political traction that Barnes’ cap-and-dividend legislative proposal is getting in Congress. Reporter Steven Mufson noted, “With Obama and leading Democrats pushing for climate change this year, Barnes’s ideas have suddenly moved from written theory to political reality. In a recent visit to Washington, he said, ‘We only have one shot at this, and if we don’t do it right the first time, the planet is cooked.’”

Now Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the co-chairman of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Caucus, has introduced a cap-and-dividend bill, legislators and climate-change experts are vigorously debating what forms of cap-and-trade would be most effective and equitable. Besides reviewing the political status of the climate-change debate, the Post recounts Barnes’ career as a journalist, author, entrepreneur and activist. Mufson calls Barnes’ cap-and-dividend idea “a mix of capitalism, populism and environmentalism.”

Posted April 9, 2009