David Brooks: Maybe Obama should revive cap-and-trade and try "to get a global warming treaty ratified by all the major nations"

The Elevator Speech - NYTimes.com

First, global warming. President Obama has occasionally said he’d like to do something about climate change if he gets a second term. Given the country’s immediate economic and fiscal problems, this seems obtuse to me. But if this is really where Obama’s passion lies, he should go for it.

He could vow to double down on green energy and green technology. He could revive cap-and-trade legislation that would create incentives for clean innovation. He could propose a tax reform package that would substitute gasoline and energy consumption taxes for a piece of our current income taxes. He could say that his No. 1 international priority will be to get a global warming treaty ratified by all the major nations.

This would be a big, intellectually serious agenda, designed to address a big problem.