By any other name

Around the time we were writing our Obama editorial assignment, signs of the cap and trade demise were already widely discussed in the news. A New York Times article attempts to trace its demise. Its complexity, the recession and fallout on Wall Street, and European permit price fluctuations are all considered contributors to the policy falling out of favor.

However, the article also mentions Cantwell and Collins' more simplified version called "cap and dividend" that would auction off permits instead of just giving them away. Money from the auctions would be returned to taxpayers to cover higher product and energy costs. Is cap and dividend dead too, or is it just cap and trade? This isn't clear to me. It seems like the same thing, albeit with a different name and more simplified language. (Media reports always report that the cap and dividend legislation is less than 40 pages long.) The bill is also notable because the senators belong to opposite parties, which seems almost unheard of in the partisan atmosphere gripping Washington and the rest of the country.

I'm absolutely baffled why we are still talking about cap and trade's death while touting its kid sister cap and dividend. Any ideas?