How would big coal-burning companies fare under draft Lieberman-Warner climate plan?

As things really start to heat up on the climate debate, the upcoming bill by Senators Lieberman and Warner is likely to be a real focal point.

We have done a brief analysis (a follow-up to our earlier report, Should Big Polluters Own the Sky?) of their draft plan and have come up with some provocative findings.

We think the senators deserve real credit for taking the initiative in the face of dogged opposition by the Bush Administration to any limits on CO2 emissions.

But we found that their draft plan would produce windfall profits for the biggest polluters. That's because they would give away more free "allocations" to the big coal burning companies than needed.

Environmentalists are hoping this legislation can be improved as the debate moves forward.