I was reading an article in the Economist called, "Green sums." It focused on the fact that while even the President seems to agree that global warming is real, as do many members of the Senate, some environmental activists are leery of action that is too swift. In other words, the latter would like to build up strong legislation to combat global warming, rather than accept quicker compromises that might undermine the ultimate effort. An added challenge is that global warming legislation--such as instituting carbon caps--can be a contentious issue at a time when voters could be stirred up before the next election. For this reason, Congress could hesitate to do anything too bold. An added obstacle is the fact that there are those dreaded fillibusters in Congress, such as James Inhofe, who will be sure to do everything in their power to weaken or all together do away with any bills that would put carbon caps in place. Less controversial, the article notes, are bills to promote alternative energy, such as wind turbines. Many states have seen a boom in green power industries, which means that renewable power can be seen as making good business sense. In my mind, if we can take the alternative energy wave and really run with it, by passing bills in our country that require states to use 20% or more of it in their sources of electricity, we might be able to back-door the greenhouse gas issue. In essence, if we promote the means by which power can be created with little or no carbon emissions, the traditional fossil fuel sources may lose favor. Emissions of greenhouse gases might then go down on their own. I still think carbon caps are extremely important, but if Congress can't get such bills passed at this stage, let's work it from the other angle.