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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Sunday, March 21, 2010
Solo Role in Cap and Trade Self-Destructive
The state Environment Department announced last week it plans to jump in on the side of those seeking to create a cap and trade program that stops at the state line.
It was a bad idea before, and it still is.
This is not to say that gasses created by burning carbon-based fuels are not an issue, and some pollution controls are appropriate and effective at the local level. One good example: automobile emissions near large cities.
But greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide are not a local pollution problem. They do not stick around near a power plant or over a large city, for instance, so reducing emissions in one small area will not somehow reduce the levels over that area. For that matter, one could argue they aren't actually a "pollutant."
A New Mexico cap and trade program would be a foolish adventure that would make no dent in the global greenhouse gas equation while penalizing business and industry here. Those higher costs associated with everything from food to electricity would be passed on to consumers.
Meanwhile, most of our neighbors are showing less interest in this self-destructive strategy.
New Mexico is part of the Western Climate Initiative, a cooperative of seven Western states and four Candian provinces which combined make up a large area and which is working toward a cap and trade system. But our energy producing neighbors such as Texas and Oklahoma never joined, and even members of the group that were once on board are now backing down in the wake of the enduring recession.
Last month, the Utah House voted 52-18 to urge the governor to leave the consortium and Arizona's governor announced her state will not endorse any emission-control program that would slow the state's economic recovery.
In California, a group opposed to cap and trade is pushing for a ballot measure that would suspend the state's climate legislation until unemployment drops and holds steady at 5 percent.
If New Mexico officials want to push for cap and trade, its congressional delegation is the place to start. Going it alone will only harm the state.
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