Three retiring Republican senators could resurrect cap-trade

Despite claims to the contrary, the energy tax known as cap and trade is still alive. Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has supposedly pulled the plug on it, our implacable Senatorial leadership is reportedly conspiring to foist the Kerry-Lieberman bill on the American people by bringing it to a vote during the lame duck session. They would then reinstate the cap and trade provision during conference with the House's Waxman-Markey Bill. This scheme would not only impose huge new taxes on the American people, it could also transfer billions of dollars and many thousands of jobs to Mexico.

The first reason for timing the vote after the election should be obvious. The Democrats hope that retiring Republican Senators George Voinovich (OH), George LeMieux (FL), and Judd Gregg (NH), who have voiced support for climate legislation in the past and will no longer need to worry about responding to their constituents, will buck the party line in order to cement their respective "legacies" in the eyes of the media and liberal historians. Asked about this possibility, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he "certainly wouldn't rule it out." This threat must be taken seriously.

Most Americans understand that cap and trade would mean skyrocketing energy costs -- as the President himself admitted during his election campaign -- but that's not all. Cap and trade would carry serious geopolitical ramifications for the United States.