BP Quits Climate-Change Group

Things must be really dire when it's considered bad news that oil companies have quit a climate-legislation lobby: BP, ConocoPhillips, and heavy-equipment maker Catepillar have all withdrawn from the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a business-environmental coalition that pressed Washington to cap greenhouse gases. It’s another nail in the coffin of cap and trade. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, looks at how President Obama is (once again) trying to work around a paralyzed Congress to achieve his environmental agenda: He uses his 2011 budget to call for $39 billion in tax increases on oil companies over 10 years; $1.4 billion in aid to countries fighting climate change; and $36 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power.