Cap and trade approaches to climate change are irresponsible because they can't work. They are merely political ploys designed to deceive the public into granting broad powers to governments in return for illusory climate security. It looks increasingly likely that we will be fooled again.

Under the proposed legislation, greenhouse gas emissions would be cut from 6,100 metric tons of carbon equivalent in 2004 to about 2,100 metric tons in 2050.

In his remarks to the Senate on the bill, Senator McCain asserted that there are five essential elements to “any responsible climate change measure”:

1. Rational, mandatory emission reduction targets and timetables. It must be goal oriented, and have both environmental and economic integrity. We need policy that will produce necessary outcomes, not merely check political boxes. The goal must be feasible and based on sound science.
2. A market-based cap and trade system. It must limit greenhouse gas emissions and allow the trading of emission credits to drive enterprise, innovation and efficiency. “Voluntary efforts will not change the status quo, taxes are counterproductive, and markets are more dependable than regulators in effecting sustainable change.”
3. Mechanisms to minimize costs and work effectively with other markets.
4. Spurring the development and deployment of advanced technology. Nuclear, solar, and other alternative energy must be part of the equation, according to McCain.
5. Facilitating international efforts to solve the problem.

Climate change is a world problem, not a national problem. Systems like this are subject to all the "leaks" of other coercive systems, leading often to off-shoring to less coercive places. The global climate will be little affected.

The problem isn't lack of political leadership since it isn't a political problem, it's a technological problem. We lack methods to provide the energy we need without emitting GHGs. That need is growing at a rapid rate as the world develops. Useful solutions need to address all these needs and be affordable as well. Better, more affordable systems will be adopted willingly, without coercion, and would reduce offshoring rather than increase it, at least until the technologies are widely adopted in the world.

We need a politician who can figure out a way to exploit this truth for personal gain, someone who can propose a role for government in supporting development of such systems rather than building huge new bureaucracies - new politics rather than the same old politics.