So Long, Cap-and-Trade. So What’s Next?

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Ever since the slow and painful death of the climate bill in the Senate, it’s been crystal clear that the climate movement desperately needs a breath of fresh air. With this in mind, the Climate Desk partners have convened a panel of experts who, over the next three days, will be brainstorming solutions to the climate crisis—with, of course, your help. The Atlantic‘s Alexis Madrigal is moderating. Here’s his take on the project:

We’re tapping half a dozen innovative thinkers to move the climate debate beyond global treaties and cap-and-trade bills and to the wide world of policy options that haven’t yet gotten their due.

It’s time to break new ground. In a series of essays published over the next three days, we’ll try to build a set of solutions that I think will look less like a climate fix and more like a statement of what industrial policy should look like in America. Outside the magic of a price on carbon, there have to be strategies for meeting the climate challenge.

So taking into account the political realities of our time, what can be done—particularly by US policymakers—to start solving the dual problems of energy poverty in developing nations and global climate change?

Read the rest of Alexis’ post here. To kick off the discussion, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, co-founders of the Breakthrough Institute, explain why they believe the cap-and-trade was always doomed to fail—and offer some alternative solutions. Check back tomorrow to read experts’ responses. 

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Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

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