Daily Score Blog

All eyes are on Seattle this week as big-wigs (and little-wigs) gather for a two-day climate protection summit organized by the United States Conference of Mayors.

Yesterday, Bill Clinton's keynote address reinforced a message of jobs and hope, economic opportunity, and technological and moral leadership when it comes to fighting climate change. He reminded us that JFK’s challenge to put a man on the moon within a decade back in the ‘60s not only switched Americans’ thinking from the gloom and doom of Sputnik-crisis-scenarios to a vision of hope and can-do optimism, it also jump-started the space-race economy that resulted in unimaginable technological fallout (the good kind), innovations that made Americans prosperous – think of the supercomputer and communications satellites and global positioning systems (and, of course, Tang). The gleam in Bill’s eye when he talks about this stuff says it all, “we can make a fortune, we can invent the future, and we can be heroes to boot.” (We’ve come full circle; it’s the economy, again, stupid. See Crosscut’s analysis here.)

Addressing the mayors today, New York City’s Michael Bloomberg echoed Bill Clinton's refrain and made it clear he’s one to watch when it comes to talking about climate, offering concrete solutions and a voice of hope. He’s calling for real change at the policy level. He’s calling for US leadership in the world. He’s saying that we can slow global warming, promote economic growth, and stimulate technological innovation.

And, despite some discrepancies we may have with the nitty-gritty details of Bloomberg’s policy proposals (Sightline’s Eric de Place sorts those out here), his overarching message is spot-on.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg just gave a bombshell speech here in Seattle calling for a federal carbon tax. (Full text of the speech is here, scroll down.)

First off, way to go Bloomberg! In fact, Sightline's Anna Fahey has written about Bloomberg's awesome framing. But now, with my researcher's hat on, I think it's worth clarifying a few things.

While many of Bloomberg's arguments in favor of a carbon tax were spot-on, he made some very selective criticisms of cap & trade programs -- criticisms that seem targeted at only the worst way of doing it. As far as I can tell, Bloomberg completely ignored the right way to do cap & trade, which starts with auctioning the credits, not giving them away for free.

So as a service for wonky readers, here's a little primer that I whipped up this morning:

This fall, the Sightline research shop has been cranking out a bunch of new maps, analyses, and tools on timely Northwest issues--from climate to property rights.

To help you keep track, here's a cheatsheet on what's new. Share them, use them, tell us what you think. (Quick reminder: All graphics are downloadable in several versions.)

	Why transportation matters so much in Northwest climate policy: Visual evidence of why transportation emissions need to be included in regional climate policy.
	Mapping Oregon's Future: How Hood River, Portland, and the Willamette Valley will change in light of Oregon's Measure 37.
	Analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions and new highway lanes: What's the climate impact of adding new roads? We did the math.
	Climate Policy for Smarties: A blog series with our latest thinking on how the NW can most effectively--and fairly--slash greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, a page listing all our climate policy treats.
	Widgets R Us! Our 2007 energy counter and WalkScore are both available in widget form (this means you can easily put them on your website or blog).