Cap-and-Trade: A Thorning Subject

Last week, Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman introduced the American Power Act, (Full text, section-by-section summary) the latest version of federal cap-and-trade legislation. A White House statement said the legislation "will put America on the path to a clean energy economy that will create American jobs building the solar panels, wind blades and the car batteries of the future."

But Patrick J. Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute notes that the bill "mandates the impossible, will not produce any meaningful reduction of planetary warming, and it will subsidize just about every form of power that is too inefficient to compete today."

This legislation was discussed at the Mackinac Center's April 29, 2010, Issues & Ideas forum "Global Environmental and Economic Challenges" featuring Dr. Margo Thorning, an internationally recognized expert on tax, environmental and competitiveness issues.

Watch the Issues & Ideas video to hear Dr. Thorning's troubling predictions about the impact this legislation would have on Michigan's economy, and read her Op-Ed in today's Detroit News.

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