Dingell's Carbon Plan Serves Economy Best

Congress seems to be moving toward a law that will sharply limit carbon emissions. Given that that's the case, such legislation should be balanced to have minimal impact on economic growth and job creation.

That's one of the reasons we are hoping Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich, prevails in fending off a challenge from California Rep. Henry Waxman, who hopes to unseat him as chairman of the House Commerce and Energy Committee.

Dingell has placed on the table a reasonable carbon cap-and-trade proposal that would employ market strategies for reducing greenhouse gases.

His legislation would cover roughly 88 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, bringing them to 6 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below those levels by 2050.

The bill would create a market for carbon credits. Limits would be placed on the amount of carbon a business could emit, and those that kept emissions below the limit could either sell their credits to others on the open market or bank them for the future.

Dingell's plan places the country on a steady path toward bringing carbon emissions under control, and makes the likely bet that between now and 2050 new technologies will emerge that will accelerate the ability to capture carbon from tailpipes and smokestacks.

Waxman, by contrast, proposes a far more aggressive timetable and stricter limits.

He signed on to legislation that would ban any new coal-fired power plants built without a carbon capture system, an unrealistic measure that would send energy hungry industries fleeing overseas.

The Californian would also come down far harder on the automobile industry. He supports imposing California's proposed tailpipe standards on automakers, adding an extra $65 billion to the industry's research and development tab.

Critics of Dingell, including powerful environmental groups, accuse him of being overly interested in protecting auto jobs.

But Dingell has considerable experience balancing economic growth against environmental protection. He crafted the Clean Air and Clean Water acts to do just that.

America is headed into a severe economic downturn. Unemployment hit a 17-year high last week. This is not a time to be strangling industry with overly burdensome environmental regulation.

Dingell has proposed reasonable action against carbon emissions. Some jobs will surely be lost if it is enacted. But not nearly as many as if Waxman gets his way.

It's more than just hometown loyalty that causes us to root for Dingell in this fight.

The veteran congressman understands the need for both a clean environment and a healthy economy.

Attacking the climate change problem with a steady, rational plan is far better than adopting panicky legislation that reduces carbon emissions by destroying jobs.

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