A Bold Prediction

Myron wrote earlier about how the Senate Democrats are showing no urgency to tackle global warming, otherwise known as The Greatest Threat Facing the Planet (TM – Al Gore). I challenged them to show their commitment to Saving the Planet by bringing Kyoto to the floor for ratification, even if that meant (gasp!) changing procedural rules. No dice.

Now, Stuart Eizenstat, who negotiated Kyoto for the Clinton-Gore team, admits that the Democrats won’t do anything to faced down The Greatest Threat Facing the Planet:

“In the United States there is growing interest and growing concern but no chance of joining Kyoto,” he told Reuters by telephone. “The word is radioactive.”

Of course, the article blames this all on evil obstructionists. I contend that the issue is just too good an issue to solve. The perverse incentives of electoral cycles mean that it is more useful to have a stick to beat your electoral opponents with than to make the stick illegal. I therefore make a bold prediction. By this time next year, Congress will not have passed any meaningful legislation to do with global warming — by which I mean any cap-and-trade plans or carbon taxes. Note I say nothing about a Presidential veto — I don’t believe it will even reach the President’s desk. If I’m wrong, I will gladly offset my carbon use for the year…