T. Friedman on Waxman-Markey Climate Bill: "let's get it passed in the Senate and make it law."

Thomas Friedman said of the Waxman-Markey Bill: "It stinks. It's a mess... Now let's get it passed in the Senate and make it law."

So why does he want this stinky, messy bill to become law?

In the New York Times, Friedman explained that this bill, for all its imperfections, is "the first comprehensive attempt by America to mitigate climate change by putting a price on carbon emissions. Rejecting this bill would have been read in the world as America voting against the reality and urgency of climate change and would have undermined clean energy initiatives everywhere."

To muster enough support for the bill to be passed through the House, the bill had to include provisions that would weaken it. Still, it creates incentives for businesses to cut costs by going green: "weaving carbon emissions into every business decision will drive innovation and deployment of clean technologies to a whole new level and make energy efficiency much more affordable." Through the bill, new buildings and appliances will be more energy efficient, forests will be conserved, and mindsets will change- factoring in pollution as a production cost will change the way we make things.

Let's heed Friedman's final words of wisdom: "Now that the bill is heading for the Senate... we must, ideally, try to improve it, but, at a minimum, guard against diluting it any further."

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