The EPA greenhouse gas ruling

The Wall Street Journal is right:

The gambit is also meant to coerce businesses, on the theory that they'll beg for cap and trade once the command-and-control regulatory pain grows too acute

Looking back now, wouldn't it have been easier to allow California to regulate its own emissions? They would have set the rule, the rest of the states would have had to follow suit and the federal government would step in only to even out the process and provide guidance. Instead we've had a decade in which those who thought Republicans would be in power forever blocked any sort of legislative action while everyone else nervously awaited the time when things would change. Better late than never, but regulatory clarity would have been a worthwhile accomplishment back then as it is now.