*** A Greenswell of Support for A Carbon Tax to Address Climate Change

http://www.climatetaskforce.org/2009/02/a-greenswell-of-support-for-a-carbon-tax-to-address-climate-change/
US CLIMATE TASK FORCE: The climate policy debate has been making headlines this week. News outlets have been buzzing with increased support for a carbon tax by high-profile leaders in the climate change community. While this policy's growing profile hasn't been warmly received yet on Capitol Hill, more officials and the public are embracing it.

Take, for instance, the remarks made last week by Energy Secretary Chu that indicated his support of a carbon tax in lieu of cap-and-trade. Even though his comments struck a chord with voters — sparking a regular greenswell of support — Beltway pundits have labeled Chu's statement a political "gaffe." In yesterday's ClimateWire, political analyst Thomas Mann explained:

What he said originally meets the classic definition of a gaffe: a politically awkward truth widely acknowledged by experts but one not yet allowable in the political arena … Cap and trade has the virtue of obscuring the costs of carbon reduction in a way that a carbon tax does not.