Sarah Palin wades into the debate on cap and trade, or as she prefers to call it, cap and tax, today in the Washington Post's editorial pages. Predictably she doesn't like it, but it doesn't appear as though she understands the issue at hand.

There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn't lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America's economy.

Cap and trade isn't about "foreign energy sources." It's about staving off global warming. At no point does Palin mention CO2 emissions, rising global temperatures or anything that's at the core of the legislation.

Instead she prefers to talk about the "mountains of oil" we sit on and our "abundant" coal and "the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil." No mention of the resources God provides above us, like solar, or God blows on us, like wind. And, incidentally, where are these mountains of oil? The Rockies? Good luck pulling it.

She just uses the usual talking points about jobs being lost, and electric bills rising. It's a possibility those things will happen, just as it's a possibility that continued CO2 emissions will lead to catastrophic climate change. The question she needs to answer is which is worse.