Should I even bother pointing out that the fuel lines into Afghanistan – hundred of trucks — are being driven by Taliban drivers?  More confusion.
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The problem with energy and environmental policy is we’ve cleaned up the low hanging fruit, and the last fruit  remaining (conservation) is something a Democratic president won’t touch.
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A concern I have about allowing the market to produce the optimal response given a regulatory structure like Cap and Trade lies in the fact that whereas the markets can be as free as one might wish they may not be open markets from the point of view of the consumer.

The consumer cannot necessarily participate in an optimal way if it cannot access all of the tradable equivalents. If consumers are tied to electricity produced primarily by coal how can the market for gas produced electricity be made open to them. The production in their available marketplace may adjust on decadal timescale as it optimises but that may be of little comfort. A similar case can be made for heating fuel and transportation fuel.

The personal benefit of optimising markets is dependent on the consumers ability to invest in optimal solutions which is dependent on the availability of income, credit and or interventions such as government support.

So I should like to add the Social Dimension along side energy security and climate considerations.

Alex