Gillibrand Sets Back Cap and Trade With WSJ Op-Ed
Ugh. We can all thank New York Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand today for single-handedly setting back the campaign for a cap-and-trade bill at least a few months.
Gillibrand’s op-ed in the The Wall Street Journal titled, “Cap and Trade Could Be a Boon to New York” plays right into the hands of bill opponents, with its trumpeting of Wall Street’s talent for financial innovation and listing of the country’s most unpopular companies.
First, Gillibrand calls for tight regulation of carbon as a commodity derivative. Fair enough.
But then, she writes that the “wide range of possible carbon reductions… will require innovative specialized contracts that can meet firms needs.” And she rejects mandated exchange trading because it would require standardization, which would ban customized derivatives.
Then there’s this: “entities like the New York Stock Exchange, J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and the new Green Exchange are developing carbon trading platforms or expanding their environmental trading desks.”
Good God senator, why don’t you just say that cap and trade is a ponzi scheme designed to enrich the “vampire squid” and be done with it. Read More »
