This is a big one. He wants the bill to move to a full auction of allowances by 2026 as opposed to 2036 as currently stipulated. A lot of enviros would like a 100 percent auction from day one, so this isn’t as radical as it sounds, but it’s still immensely important.
But Joe Lieberman says no. He says that the bill as is will already involve some hardship to some industries, so they basically need tons of subsidies. Right.
Lieberman paid lip service to the possibility that the auction provisions might be strengthened later on, but said that 2036 is the “balance point” for political compromise right now and killed the amendment nonetheless.
