There is much anticipation in Washington as important legislation on a cap and trade scheme to deal with global warming comes up for a vote in Congress later this week. But don’t get your hopes up too high about the legislation’s long-term chances. News from Australia shows how difficult it is to get this sort of legislation through. When politicians really focus on the economic costs involved, they tend to quail.
There is also the “after you, Claude” problem. The Australian opposition are arguing that there is no point in their country acting until they know what the US will do, and what will happen at the Copenhagen climate change talks. American politicians, meanwhile, are quite certain to argue that the US should not act until it has a guarantee that China will make similar sacrifices.
The American opponents of climate-change legislation are already taking heart from the setbacks to the Australian scheme. They are also seizing upon a new book by Ian Plimer, an Australian professor and climate-change denier. Actually, I hate that phrase “climate-change denier” – since it (possibly deliberately?) links disputing the consensus view on global warming with “holocaust denial”. It might be brave, it might be irresponsible – but taking issue with global consensus on global warming is not like claiming that there were no gas chambers as Auschwitz.
For views and opinions on the European Union from Peter Spiegel, Joshua Chaffin, Alex Barker and Stanley Pignal, follow the 