For all of the last century, the profit motive basically led in one direction ? toward machines, methods, and industries that used oil and gas. Enormous good came from that industrial growth, and we are all the beneficiaries of the national prosperity it built. But there were costs we weren?t counting, and often hardly noticed. And these terrible costs have added up now, in the atmosphere, in the oceans, and all across the natural world. They are no longer tenable, sustainable, or defensible. And what better way to correct past errors than to turn the creative energies of the free market in the other direction? Under the cap-and-trade system, this can happen. In all its power, the profit motive will suddenly begin to shift and point the other way ? toward cleaner fuels, wiser ways, and a healthier planet.
?Sen. John McCain in a speech, May 12, 2008
I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.
?Sen. John McCain, Nov. 26, 2005, Wall Street Journal
It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ?dismal science.? But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance.
? Economist Murray Rothbard
