Popular Logistics is about Policy, not Politics. However, it takes success at politics in order to implement policy. In terms of Policy, Popular Logistics thinks that the United States could, and should, move to 100% clean energy in 10 years (click here , here , here , or here). However, in a democracy, important policy is made by compromise, and while will, as Al Gore once said, is a renewable resource, the public doesn’t seem to have the will to embrace wind, solar, geothermal, marine current, and negawatts. Thus Waxman-Markey. While we agree with those who say that the bill doesn’t go far enough, fast enough we view Waxman Markey as a good start.
While it allows 2 Billion Tons of offsets each year and while the goal for 2020 is 17% below 2005, while it mandates a minimum of 12% clean energy by 2020, the law is comprehensive and as noted, it is a start.
To those who say it is expensive, the costs of doing nothing are the cost of destroying Appalachia, the costs of more coal ash disasters like the 12/22/08 flood in Tennessee, and the costs of adding more arsenic, mercury, and radioactive particles and carbon from coal. These costs are higher, much higher than the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate of 18 cents per day (Cited Paul Krugman, NY Times – Click here for PDF).
The law says a) we must move forward, b) we may move forward at a glacial pace, and c) we may move faster. We hope that America will move faster than the law mandates. After all, the only thing that should move at a glacial pace are glaciers.
For a detailed summary of Waxman Markey, click here. For a high level overview, click here.
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