Joseph Romm is right on this, a mental bailout would really help.
Most political/environmental prescriptions still have that underlying "free" market Reagan revolution flaw at their heart.
Cap and trade, offsets, auctioned GHG permits, they all have that illusionary market efficiency, let-big-business-do-it attitude.
The false premise behind these schemes is obvious, that unregulated markets are onmiscient saviours of the human species. Kind of like Jesus, but with money?
Government directed WW 2 war production, competition survived and capitalism thrived, so what is the problem with a million car per year government contract with the automakers?
They want a bailout, the country needs a gradual reduction of oil use. In WW 2 we needed jeeps, trucks, planes, tanks, bombs...
We need plugin hybrids, solar cogeneration panels, ground source heating/cooling systems, biogas power plants, smart grid devices...this time.
Free markets? The automakers still get to compete on price, quality, and appearance of the cars. But the plugin hybrid powerplant should be part of the contract. Specific performance standards, like those required for the jeep, during WW 2.
From wikipedia:
"..the Army's tender was quite demanding. Company's bids were to be received by July 22 (just eleven days later). They were given 49 days to submit their first prototype, and 75 days for completion of 70 required test vehicles. The Army's Ordnance Technical Committee specifications were equally demanding: the vehicle would be four-wheel drive, have a crew of three, on a wheelbase of no more than 75 (later 80) inches and tracks no more than 47 inches, a fold-down windshield, 660 lb payload and be powered by an engine capable of 85 ft·lbf (115 N·m) of torque. The most daunting demand however was an empty weight of no more than 1300 lb (590 kg)."
This was a spectacularly successfull government/industry collaboration. So why not specify a plugin hybrid power plant? Government intervention in "free" markets? Bah!
Romm is right, think tanks need flushing.
