Governor Paterson's Act of Sanity on Emmissions

EIA

People have often derided the governor, but on this he is absolutly right.

ALBANY — At the urging of the energy industry, Gov. David A. Paterson has agreed to reconsider a key rule New York adopted as part of a 10-state pact aimed at reducing the threat of global warming by cutting power plant emissions

This is a very good thing, the pact in question is called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and it basically established a regional carbon permit among 10 states. In short you receive an allotment of CO2 you can emit and at auction can buy more. Obviously the increased cost is rolled down to the consumers. Patterson plans on increasing the amount of free licenses which would allow energy companies to generate electricity without an increased cost. Of course environmental groups are going ballistic over this. The real fear of the greens is that as New York goes other states will follow turning the R.G.G.I into a farce worthy of Western Europe. On a side note Peter Orszag our current OMB director has used the R.G.G.I(Slide 34) as an example for what the rest of the country can do. If this plan collapses it can seriously undercut the cap and trade schemes that the Federal government is trying to impose on America. Expect extraordinary political, social, and economic pressure on the governor over this decision.