US CLIMATE DEBATE

. . . . . . . . .The debate is between the carbon tax and cap and trade," he said. "I will do whatever I can to get consensus on cap and trade legislation."Obama, Clinton, and McCain all support building a so-called "cap and trade" system that would issue big polluters such as oil companies and power producers permits to emit carbon dioxide (CO2), the main gas blamed for global warming.Under such a system, companies that exceed their CO2 limits must buy more permits to pollute, while those that come in beneath their limits may sell the permits on a market.Obama said his plan was superior to McCain's because it required companies to buy all of those permits up front -- a process known as auctioning."I've been very specific about proposing 100 percent auctioning, which makes an enormous difference in terms of how effective it's going to be," Obama said.The European Union, which now has the biggest CO2 emissions trading scheme in the world, is changing that system to increase the amount of auctioning required. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . .THE CANDIDATES IN THE US ELECTION ARE VERY CAREFULLY TIP- TOEING AROUND THE ISSUES OF ENVIRONMENT,AND CLIMATE CHANGE KNOWING FULL WELL THAT THEY MUST NOT ANTAGONIZE THE HUGE OIL AND AUTOMOBILE LOBBIES FROM WHENCE MOST OF THEIR ELECTION FUNDS ORIGINATE.

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