Obama wants to make polluters pay

Yesterday, Heather Zichal, Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change held a live video chat on the White House web site to answer questions about clean energy, reducing our dependence on oil and on President Obama's efforts to pass a comprehensive climate legislation.

She spoke about the goal of building a much-needed transition to a clean energy economy, and mentioned the Recovery Act's investments in clean energy. The transition to clean energy, said Zichal, will lead to new jobs -- a definite plus in today's economy. She gave the example of installing a new energy efficient window panel. Someone has to install it, right? And just like that, there's another job!

Most importantly, Zichal stressed that Obama feels strongly about putting a price on carbon and making polluters pay. Logically, this would be the best way to reduce our dependence on dirty energy and to cut down on pollutionby doing just that: making polluters pay. Unless someone has a better idea, a price on carbon emission is our best bet for reducing emissions and eventually reducing our dependence on fossil fuels like oil and coal. I would say that is the best incentive.

Here's the video archive of the chat: