The Difficulties of Moving First and Getting Progress on Climate
Posted March 24, 2010 at 7:13 am 
Filed in: The French government yesterday turned down a proposal to place a tax on carbon emissions—President Nicholas Sarkozy had been pushing the idea as an environmental policy with long-term fiscal benefits. Ministers and members of his governing UMP (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire) party said that the tax would put French companies at a disadvantage compared to their European neighbors, particularly in Germany who do not pay a similar tax.
What can we learn from this?
The proposals being developed by Sens. Kerry (D-MA), Graham (R-SC) and Lieberman (I-CT) must be more balanced than the French bill, and provide opportunities for businesses to both adapt and benefit from an altered political environment.
Based on our experience with the healthcare bill, any proposal needs support from both Republicans and Democrats if it is going to make real and timely progress before the mid-term election season begins.
Climate legislation has been a ‘hard sell’ even in countries which are significantly more open to the idea than the United States. It either needs to be bundled with compensating incentives (such as the Kerry/Graham/Lieberman proposal to expand domestic oil, gas and nuclear power), or it needs an alternative focus that looks more closely at different energy-related proposals. Over the long term, additional measures such as light-duty vehicle electrification and energy efficiency could significantly improve the global climate outlook while advancing U.S. energy security on a more fundamental level.
Ensuring the prosperity of the United States is a long-term and on-going activity. Politicians and policymakers must attempt to see beyond short-term politics and understand the complexity of our energy and climate challenges if we are to succeed.
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