You can bet they won’t let it die, though. The Hill reports that the Cap and Trade bill will not be out of committee before the end of September. The reported reason? Ted Kennedy’s passing:

“Because of Senator Kennedy’s recent passing, Senator Kerry’s August hip surgery, and the intensive work on healthcare legislation particularly on the Finance Committee where Sen. Kerry serves, Majority Leader Reid has agreed to provide some additional time to work on the final details of our bill, and to reach out to colleagues and important stakeholders,” Sens. Boxer (D-Calif.) and Kerry (D-Mass.) said in a joint statement.

Like Moe Lane in Three Summaries of cap-and-trade I think the real reason is congressional approval ratings and the fear of yet another public outcry similar to the current one about health care reform. Of course with this congress the fact that the public has concerns about the proposed legislation has nothing to do with wanting to pass it. It’s all about attempting to preserve electability.

The idea of Neighborhood Solar Energy Cooperatives, as described in The pleasant way to go solar: Neighborhood cooperatives: Scientific American Blog, appeals to my libertarian instinct.

People with similar interests coming together in a private manner “to do something about global warming” by achieving economies of scale when implementing solar power should be a component of any national energy independence and climate change strategy. But what bureaucracy! Not every neighborhood has residents with the means and connections similar to those who live in the Washington DC neighborhood described in the article.

What’s more important? Health care reform that is wildly unpopular and seen as unnecessary by most Americans, or a national energy independence strategy that truly supports a wide range of resources and their development? Why can’t we devote even a fraction of the attention currently being spent on deficit-enlarging, bureaucracy-producing health care reform on true, multiple-solutions enabling energy policy reform?

Imagine Waxman and Markey instead of these two guys…