Bush Mulls An American Carbon Cap

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may have expressed a new openness to an idea President Bush has long opposed, as he discusses policy options with other administration officials and outside experts. Others in the Treasury Department disagreed, however.

Many political leaders are moving toward a carbon cap scenario, similar in some ways to the Kyoto Protocol that aimed to curb world emissions of carbon dioxide. The U.S. Senate never ratified that treaty, and Bush opposed it. But since seeking to convene a new world forum on the issue of climate change -- including the fast-developing countries left out of the Kyoto Protocol -- Bush has signaled at least a new willingness to talk about options.

U.S. business and industry leaders are already there, and many have joined together to call for regulation to -- if nothing else -- clarify the market going forward. This latest detail about internal debate within the administration hints there could be more room for action on climate change than many skeptics would have thought possible from the Bush Administration.

To read the Wall Street Journal story (subscription required) click here.

COMMENTS ()