Next up: cap n’ trade

The U.S. Senate begins debate this week on a the Lieberman-Warner bill that would create a cap and trade system to limit carbon emissions. President Bush has made it clear he will veto the bill, and his administration’s appointees at NASA have sought to downplay scientific concern about global warming, so the Senate action is more about setting up the issue for the next administration. Obama, Clinton and McCain have all backed the idea. Despite the backing of some Republican senators, it’s going to be a tricky issue and tricky timing for McCain who is trying to rally his party’s conservative wing around him.