Elana reported below on Greenpeace’s efforts to push the House’s climate change debate to the left, noting some of their early reactions to the Waxman-Markey legislation unveiled today.
Greenpeace also highlights one politically difficult question that was left unanswered by Waxman and Markey: Would emissions credits be given away free to fossil-fuel-burning businesses, or auctioned off to raise money for green transit and/or taxpayer rebates?
As it happens, Markey addressed that very question today during his conference call with reporters. His answer was somewhat vague–he refused to announce any goals about the proportion of emissions he’d like to see sold at auction, for instance. But he did note that, in the final bill, “what is most likely to happen is a combination of the two”–some will be given away, the rest will be auctioned.
That won’t please Greenpeace, and it’s not what Obama asked for, but if Markey’s saying that now, it’s likely that there’s no way around it.
