The most recent list of quotes praising the CLEAR Act. Compiled and distributed by the Office of Senator Maria Cantwell.

Washington Post, 1/30/10

“The best way to do that is through a carbon tax or a well-designed cap-and-trade scheme.  Neither need be the giveaway that Waxman-Markey turned into. In fact, there are more appealing proposals in the Senate. One is from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine); it would cap emissions and rebate most of the proceeds directly to taxpayers.”

 

The Economist, 2/4/10

“Ms Cantwell’s bill is refreshingly simple…The most attractive thing about the bill is that it is honest.  To discourage the use of dirty energy, it says, it has to be more expensive.  To make up for that, here’s a thousand bucks.  This challenges the conventional wisdom in Washington, DC, that the only way to pass a global-warming bill is to disguise what’s in it.”

 

Washington Post, 2/10/10

“Is there no alternative between simple do-nothingism and House complexity?  In fact, there is.  An alternative proposal increasingly capturing interest on Capitol Hill is the CLEAR Act, sponsored by Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine).”

 

Denver Post, 2/16/10

“We like that [the CLEAR Act] is straightforward enough to be encompassed in a 40-page bill.  We like that it is co-sponsored by a Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, of Maine.  We very much like that it would avoid the creation of a vast energy- trading market such as the one envisioned in the Waxman-Markey bill.  And we also like that it would bypass the political gamesmanship that would have ensued as entities jockeyed for the free permits under Waxman-Markey.”

 

AARP, 3/9/10

“Your CLEAR Act legislation offers a thoughtful, bipartisan approach to reducing harmful carbon dioxide emissions while also mitigating potential energy cost increases to consumers… The CLEAR Act offers a uniquely pro-consumer approach for addressing climate change on an economy-wide basis.”

 

The Nation, 4/15/10

“The CLEAR Act’s cap-and-dividend system, which works by capping CO2-producing fossil fuels at the source or point of import, is an elegant idea…it doesn’t pre-empt the EPA or state regulations, and its leanness means that it’s not laden with pork and industrial giveaways.  Between the two, the CLEAR Act is preferable, on the grounds that it would do less harm and possibly as much or more good.”

 

Barre-Montpelier Times Argus (Vermont), 4/22/10

“A bill introduced by the bipartisan team of Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Maria Cantwell of Washington is a much simpler and more reasonable option.  Instead of giveaways to industry, it would levy a fee on businesses that produce carbon dioxide and then return part of that fee to taxpayers in an annual dividend check.”

 

Bangor Daily News (Maine), 4/22/10

“Sen. Collins, along with Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, has sponsored a bill that many view as more politically palatable than a cap-and-trade measure pushed by Sens. John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman.  The Collins-Cantwell bill uses a so-called cap-and-dividend approach.”

 

Orlando Sentinel, 4/24/10

“Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Sen. Susan Collins also recently unveiled their ambitious energy package.  Its call for a gradually declining cap on fossil-fuel emissions would lead to more clean-energy research and development, energy efficiency programs and assistance to communities and workers transitioning to a clean-energy economy.”

Compiled and distributed by the Office of Senator Maria Cantwell