In a peculiar little “New Year’s Resolution” dialoguetoday with Gail Collins, New York Times columnist David Brooks writes, “If you’re willing to give me nuclear power” — which the liberal Collins conceded as her resolution — “I’m willing to follow Lindsey Graham’s lead and do a little bit on the cap-and-trade bill, which is an imperfect piece of legislation, God knows, but still probably good for the country.” This coming from one of the three or four most prominent conservative voices in print media — but a prominent conservative who doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence in his knowledge of the climate policy debate. He writes in the same piece that last night, “I learned from Fred Krupp of the Environmental Defense Fund, my favorite environmental group, that the cap-and-trade bill, which I thought was dead in the senate, actually is close to getting enough votes to pass.”
Given the ease of persuading Brooks and the reach of his writing, his is a pretty good ear to have.