THE PERFECT V. THE SOMETHING. I'm rather taken with the "Beutler plan" to stop global warming. This is, in part, because it's somewhat similar to the old "Klein plan" to stop global warming, which started by accepting that a gas tax was something near to a political impossibility. Indeed, I'm rather worried by this apparent arms race in policy seriousness* wherein only a gas tax is an acceptable response to the threat of climate change. This may be a correct judgment on the policy merits, but I've seen, literally, no plausible strategies for how an actual gas, or carbon, tax gets passed. And I'm not talking a 5 cent, Don Young style tax to pay for infrastructure investment. I mean a robust, $1 or $2 levy that could actually make a dent in fuel usage. Now, I'm all for pundits continuing to try and make a progressive gas tax feasible. But since I don't think they'll be able to convince Americans into believing they should pay way more for gasoline, I'd also like to see a bit more support behind passable measures. Dingell's devious, if brilliant, attempt to make a gas tax the only acceptable option is basically a way to forestall any and all action. *This is a criticism, incidentally, that could easily apply to me on health care. But it's different! Really! --Ezra Klein