Following are the questions posed by Physics Today and the answers supplied by the Obama campaign.
Both of you have set forth plans to mitigate the warming of Earth’s climate that include a mandatory cap-and-trade system on carbon emissions, and both plans call for the emissions credits to be auctioned off to industry. What are the features that make your climate change plan superior to your opponent’s, and why? How would your energy policy address both the rising costs of and the continuing need for fossil fuels?
I propose to implement a market-based cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions by the amount scientists say is necessary: 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. I will start reducing emissions immediately by establishing strong annual reduction targets with an intermediate goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. A cap-and-trade program draws on the power of the marketplace to reduce emissions...