Election 2008: Global Climate Change

Taking care of planet Earth is an issue of particular interest to Buddhists. I am happy to report that neither presidential candidate is anti-Earth. Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are both in favor of science and promise to work toward solutions to climate change with the international community. They both propose to reduce greenhouse gasses by means of a cap-and-trade system rather than by a carbon tax.

How do they differ? The Obama campaign web site provides much more specific detail -- and more bulleted lists than you can count -- than the McCain site, which makes comparison a bit tricky. I get the impression that Senator McCain has not worked out as many details, which doesn't mean he won't have a finely detailed plan eventually. However, I believe Senator Obama’s plan is more aggressive than what I see of Senator McCain's.

Take their cap-and-trade proposals. A cap-and-trade policy is one that sets a cap on how much pollution a facility may emit. Then, companies receive emission permits allowing them a certain number of carbon credits. A company that is very efficient and doesn't need all its credits can trade or sell them to other companies. Under the Obama plan, all companies would be required to purchase carbon credits at auction. The McCain plan also calls for an auction, but only after a transition period during which some polluters would be given credits for free.

For more side-by-side comparison, see Nature.com.