With these remarks Mr Anderson adds his firm, Duke Energy, to the list of US companies that have addressed Climate Change in annual reports or underwritten interesting projects to curtail carbon intensity. With this taxation proposal, Anderson takes it to the next level, though. You've got to admire the spunk of a successful epatriate executive, not long back from Australia, who states his personal preference to do this among his hometown peers, some of whom could be stockholders.

The AP News Wire coverage of his talk spells out the pragmatism behind his courage. "If we (the U.S. energy industry) ignore the issue, we would be the easy target," he said. "The worst scenario would be if all 50 states took separate actions and we have to comply with 50 different laws."

So TreeHuggers, is this out of pure capitalist instinct? And should we be more grateful than ever for States Rights? Well, yes to both of course. Big Extra Credit seems due though. He could have just thrown the oblique "cap and trade" line at them and gone back to work unchallenged. But, he did not; and the "heat" is on. From follow-up Fox News coverage: "Duke calls it a “carbon tax,” but we might call it the “Greenpeace tax” in honor of the various radical environmental groups, like Greenpeace, pushing global warming hysteria..."

You know how one TreeHugger can pick out the others in a crowd? His eye does have that glimmer. Plus he is reported to love his Harley Davidson. A hint of the rebel lurking beneath the corporate surface. Ride on Paul (wink wink).

by: John Laumer