President Bush's programs on global warming and fuel-efficiency standards for vehicles are too weak to do much good. In fact, they would allow things to get
much
worse.
Mr. Bush would weaken the Clean Air Act to allow big increases in mercury emissions as well as in the pollution that causes smog and acid rain (of particular concern to us in New England).
His plan unwisely relies on companies to report voluntarily on their own emission reductions without devices to
ensure
compliance. Only a mandatory, well-regulated and monitored reporting mechanism, with real targets for capping pollution, is likely to be effective.
Emissions-trading programs that let dirtier plants buy credits from those with lower emissions have proven useful in curbing pollution. But the Bush plan, while calling for trading credits for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury, does not cover carbon dioxide, and thus doesn't address the heart of the global-warming problem. Nor does it consider imposing a carbon tax, an effective, market-based way to
quickly
cut emissions.
The Bush plan seeks to only reduce the level of emissions per unit of economic output. That means that if the economy improves as much as the president hopes, there still will be a huge increase in pollution from America.
Mr. Bush holds out the prospect that if the mostly voluntary measures he has in mind don't work, then tougher ones will go into effect -- in 2012 -- when he is long out of office. This suggests a lack of seriousness.
And the administration's disinclination to push for the much higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks that technology permits compounds the problem. The failure will not only add to our pollution; it will weaken America by making it even more import-dependent.
Of course, new fuel-efficiency standards take a while to be implemented. The quickest way to encourage efficiency would be to boost gasoline taxes to encourage people to buy the most fuel-efficient vehicles being made now. Meanwhile, mass transit, such as the eternally and unfairly starved Amtrak and commuter rail, should be boosted to get people out of their cars.
Making cars and power plants more efficient would be good for the long-term productivity -- not to mention health -- of the nation. But politics -- i.e., human nature -- still leads policy mostly in the other direction.
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