Carney on AIG’s big government ways

In his Examiner column today, former CEI Brookes Fellow Tim Carney explodes the myth of AIG as a stalwart defender of free markets that caved in at the sight of federal dollars coming its way:

AIG in 2007 joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (US-CAP), a group whose purpose is to lobby for federal restrictions on greenhouse gases. Specifically, US-CAP lobbies for a scheme of mandatory federal caps on greenhouse gas emissions with tradable emission allowances—a “cap-and-trade” policy pushed hard by Enron before that firm’s collapse in 2001.

As part of its climate change strategy, AIG also joined the Investor Network on Climate Risk, which AIG describes as “focused on the financial risks and investment opportunities posed by climate change.” But this network is not, precisely speaking, focused on how climate change might create new risks or opportunities. Rather, it addresses risks and opportunities created by legislation passed in the name of addressing climate change.

Sadly, AIG is not alone. We’ve seen this before.

For more on the Climate Action Partnership, see here.

For more on the Investor Network on Climate Risk, see here.