If Washington is going debate tax reform, fundamental questions should be on the table: Like, for instance, how we might tax bad things -- i.e., pollution and over-consumption -- instead of good things, like work and wealth creation.
One obstacle to such a rethinking, though, is that energy and pollution taxes scare the heck out of elected leaders. Everyone remembers Bill Clinton's disastrous BTU proposal in 1993 and -- more recently -- how easily a vote for climate change legislation in 2009 was turned into a liability for House members.