Round 1 of Waxman Markey Goes to the Bad Guys (yet there is still hope!) | GlobalWarming.org

That changed last night, when Waxman and Peterson reached a deal, according to E&E News (Subscription required). It wasn’t a very even transaction: Waxman caved, and Peterson won everything he wanted. The terms of the deal are wonkinsh but the take-home points are simple-farmers get regulatory support for ethanol (which raises our food bills and increases the price of our gas), farmers will get paid to grow nothing (because doing nothing has low carbon footprint), and Waxman gets the votes for his bill (which will raise the price of everything made from energy, which is everything).

After round 1, our side (i.e., supporters of affordable energy and opponents of energy rationing) is wobbly. YET THERE IS STILL HOPE! For moderates in the majority party, this bill is a career-killer. Just because Waxman has bought the agribusiness special interests, doesn’t mean there isn’t within the majority party a silent minority that is terrified of the electoral consequences of voting for a bill that hurts all American consumers and all American businesses.

The President’s press conference: climate change | KeithHennessey.com

Thanks to a grad school professor, I have forever imprinted the question-and-answered, “Who pays taxes? PEOPLE pay taxes.” The President is correct that the costs of a cap-and-trade system would be directly imposed on those who produce power and fuel from carbon-based energy sources. But power companies, like all firms, are aggregations of economic interests. They would pass these costs through to their owners, employees, and customers. So one could even more accurately say that “This legislation is paid for by anyone who uses electricity from a coal-fired or nautral gas-fired power plant, who drives, or who buys anything that has power or fuel as an input. It is also paid for by the hard-working employees of those companies, and by those who own stock in those companies.”

[More signature insanity at Treehugger:] Russia to be Particularly Screwed by Climate Change

And though climate change will hit harder in Russia because of its extensive permafrost

Why would any adult believe that permafrost is a good thing for human prosperity?  If Nebraska becomes covered by permafrost for 10,000 years, would Nebraskans be better off ?