Sabotaging free trade via C[O.sub.2] mitigation laws.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Future legislation on global warming could end up affecting international trade. As such, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C., urges the House Ways and Means Committee members to look closely at the inevitable trade conflicts that would result from a carbon-constrained economy. "Carbon tariffs are no mere quirk of this or that Administration, political party, or government agency," notes CEI senior fellow Marlo Lewis. "Protectionism is an inherent feature of carbon-suppression policies."

Companies and labor unions in countries that have adopted carbon limits will demand tariffs to "level the playing field" with firms in noncarbon-constrained countries. Without the promise of carbon tariffs, domestic industry and labor in the U.S. will not support cap-and-trade practices or carbon taxes.

Carbon dioxide suppression programs also create a classic "collective action" situation. It always will be in the individual interest of each nation to free-ride on the sacrifices of others, leaving...