Positive Boston Globe Op-ed by an environmental economist from Harvard

[karynnj]

This is a good thoughtful op-ed on the likelihood that the k/l/g bill will preempt regional cap and trade programs.

NEXT WEEK, Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman will release their much-anticipated proposal for comprehensive climate and energy legislation — the best remaining shot at forging a bipartisan consensus on this issue in 2010. Their proposal has many strengths — and as an environmental economist who has worked on this issue for two decades, I hope it succeeds.

<snip>
Government officials from California, New England, New York, and other Northeastern states are vociferously lobbying in Washington to retain their existing state and regional systems for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, even after a new federal system comes into force. That would be a mistake — and a potentially expensive one for residents of those states, who could wind up subsidizing the rest of the country. The Senate should do as the House did in its climate legislation: preempt state and regional climate policies. There’s no risk involved; if federal legislation is not enacted, preemption will not take effect.
<snip>
But for the core of climate policy — which is carbon pricing — the simplest, cleanest, and best way to avoid unnecessary costs and unnecessary actions is for existing state systems to become part of the federal system. California’s leaders and those in the Northeast may take great pride in their state and regional cap-and-trade systems.

But if they accomplish their frequently-stated goal — helping to bring about the enactment of a meaningful national climate policy — they will better serve their states and the country by declaring victory and getting out of the way.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/04/22/all_states_need_to_embrace_bipartisan_climate_bill/