Get ready for the new Congress and a dedicated push for cap-and-trade carbon emissions legislation. I’ll leave it to the comment section to debate the merits of the underlying problem that cap-and-trade attempts to address, but for me the big loser here are workers because for such a system to work the initial credits will be auctioned off by the government, so it’s essentially a tax and for those that can afford it they take their costs up front while those that can’t will take it in small doses through penalties and a market mechanism. In the end I fear this is nothing more than a job killer.

No matter which man leads the committee, Pelosi said she would pressure him to move a “cap and trade” bill that would limit greenhouse gases and allow emitters to trade credits to emit gases. She acknowledged it might take Congress time to put together the complex and controversial legislation.

[From Pelosi says voters misunderstood Prop. 8]

Lastly, I can’t help but find the irony given recent events involving open markets that trade hard to value intangible assets, that the Congress would suggest setting up a market for… hard to value intangible assets. Imagine the mark-to-market implications of having carbon credits on your books?

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