Below is an article from The New York Times, preceded by my comments.

If you have a drafty house where all the windows & doors & the roof leak, & you only fix the windows & doors, the biggest leaker…the roof…will still continue to leak heat in the winter & cooling air in the summer.
 
Don't be fooled by the logic of those who will put up with the cap on their polluting ways, but not the trade or offset.  Why don't the dirty coal emitting plants offset their nasty air pollution instead of wasting their resources /human & monetary/on helping others capture carbon?
 
Spock would say, “It is not logical, Captain.”
 
Senators, please do what is right for the children. We should only ever have three things in mind when doing our adult business: The safety of the children, the health of the children, and the education of the children.  If these three things are taken care of, they will be safe, happy, and smart.  Our biggest responsibility is guarding all children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and even the children of other states and countries. Nothing else should be more important…Not money from big coal companies…Not re-election.
 
Please get with it.  This bill is easy to fix. Please take the lead on it.  We will remember you for it. ~

 
The New York Times

The House’s approval of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill earlier this month was a remarkable political achievement and an important beginning to the task of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But in all the last-minute wheeling and dealing, the House bill acquired two big loopholes that the Senate must close.

The first loophole involves coal-fired power plants. Coal is the world’s most abundant fossil fuel — producing more than half the electricity in the United States — and also its dirtiest, with twice the carbon content of natural gas.

The House bill would limit emissions from coal-fired power plants in two ways. It imposes a cap on emissions from all industrial facilities that tightens slowly over time. It also sets tough performance standards on new power plants permitted after 2009, requiring emissions reductions of 50 percent or more. The bill would help underwrite advanced technologies capable of capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground.

The bill does not, however, impose any performance standards on existing power plants.  [Italics ours]  And it explicitly removes these plants from the reach of the Clean Air Act. This is a mistake. The overall cap on industrial emissions will not be fully effective for a long time, and, meanwhile, the government should be able to impose lower-emissions requirements on the older, dirtiest plants.

(click here to read the entire article)

Molly Regan, activist extraordinaire, environmental facilitator, elected official,  is a member of Progressive Action for the Common Good in the Quad Cities.  Don't forget to CPR…Conserve/Participate/Recycle