This paragraph sums up the article:
In this, Obama was following two decades of magical thinking among both greens and liberal Democrats about energy technology. In this view, energy efficiency pays for itself, solar and wind power are already nearly cost competitive with fossil fuels, and both can quickly and cheaply reduce emissions. This Pollyanna view of fossil fuel alternatives and efficiency, which makes going green seem cheap and easy -- little more than the cost of "a postage stamp a day" -- has provided the justification for green-policy advocacy that has overwhelmingly focused on pollution regulations and carbon pricing while ignoring serious investment in energy research and development.
This article tends to confirm my belief that the whole Waxman-Markey fiasco was a non-sequitur as far as actually actual substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The trouble is that Congress is populated by people who not only don't understand the basics of climate science, but don't have the educational background to understand the explanations. Law school just doesn't equip you to make intelligent decisions on scientific topics.
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