CEI Testimony Reveals Cartel’s Motives

Washington, D.C., February 12, 2007— The president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Fred L. Smith, Jr., will testify tomorrow before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on the Climate Action Partnership’s plan and the effects it could have on America’s economy.

The Partnership’s plan includes the regulatory capping and trading of greenhouse gas emissions, in an effort to combat global warming. Mr. Smith will focus on the fact that “cap and trade” is not market-based, but rather an "ugly combination of two of the greatest ills to affect the market economy over the past 200 years—cartelization and central planning."

"Simply because some business leaders join with environmental pressure groups to promote a policy does not mean that the policy is good for the economy or the American people," said Smith. "In general, if a company’s stance on an issue appears to be too good to be true, it probably is. Strange alliances such as these—business allying with pressure groups to demand more regulation of those businesses—is actually all too common in history, and the motivation is rarely altruism.

"The corporations we see baying for a cap and trade program are out to enrich themselves without thought for the poor. A fair approach, an egalitarian approach, is to let the market work its magic for the good of all, rather than stacking the deck to enrich the few," concluded Smith.

Senate EPW Committee Hearing on Climate Action Partnership

Who: Fred L. Smith, Jr., President, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and corporate CEOs

When: 10 a.m., Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Where: EPW Hearing Room, 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Mr. Smith’s testimony will be available at www.cei.org Tuesday morning, February 13. For interviews with Smith or a member of CEI’s global warming policy team, please contact Jody Clarke at 202.331.2252 or [email protected]