Christie Pulls NJ Out Of Cap & Trade To Titillate 2012 Speculation

Courtesy of New Jersey Governor's Office

How much longer can Chris Christie sheepishly deny the siren song of destiny? Roger Ailes had diamond-encrusted kneepads made to beg the New Jersey governor to run, and accordingly The Post reported that Barry is taking him serious enough to call a few IHOPs in Jersey to ask how many sides of bacon he eats with his Cinnastack Pancakes. Now, as Christie pulls his state out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI, or "Reggie") it seems he's attempting to solidify his right-wing bonafides, but at what cost?

RGGI is essentially a regional cap and trade program, which forces power providers to purchase emissions licenses until they're low enough to be auctioned off, thus giving them incentive to keep pollution levels low. Naturally this is anathema for the more conservative wing of the Republican party (the one that continues to cannibalize the now-almost-non-existent moderates) so Christie titillated his growing fan base by declaring "RGGI does nothing more than tax electricity, tax our citizens, tax our businesses, with no discernible or measurable impact upon our environment." Christie took "$65 million in the state's designated RGGI money to offset a $10.7 billion budget deficit" last year. But sure! Run with "no measurable impact!"

In his announcement, Christie at least acknowledged the existence of man-made global warming, citing "undeniable data" from "over 90 percent of the world's scientists," and that "in the past I've always said that climate change is real and it's impacting our state." That's not entirely true. Back in November of last year, Christie said "Mankind, is it responsible for global warming? Well I'll tell you something. I have seen evidence on both sides of it. I'm skeptical—I'm skeptical." But despite his admission that global warming is real, it's a clear nod to his base (should he commit suicide and decide to run for president) that he's willing to kill an effective, revenue-generating program that promotes cleaner energy in the name of "WE HAD RECORD SNOWFALL THIS YEAR WHAT GLOBAL WARMIN'?" James Inhofe is somewhere smoking a cigar made of baby seals and smiling.

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By Christopher Robbins in News on May 27, 2011 2:55 PM

Comments [rss]

randomtransplant

"Christie titillated his growing fan base"

I just read a poll last week that said only 36 % of NJ residents supported Christie.

And two days ago, a federal judge ruled that Christi's school budget, the cornerstone of his campaign, was half a billion dollars short in its obligations to poor districts. That can't help his popularity very much.

You don't have to be a part of the Evil Empire if you don't want to. Just stick to the facts.

Guest

It doesn't matter who runs, it doesn't matter who is elected. NOTHING EVER CHANGES. Obama just signed an extension of the Patriot Act again today, this time for 4 more years.

Bernie_Geotz_Squirrel_Luv

How does he wipe his ass? Toilet paper on a stick?

Matt F.

He. Is. Not. Running. Not in 2012, at least. If he goes for it, it would be in 2016. Reasons: 1) his wife makes too much money for her to drop it to be the first lady and 2) He's not going to pull his family out of Chatham until they're older. That's the main reason he's not living at Drumthwacket in the first place.

As I said - unless Christie starts losing weight, it's a pointless issue anyway.

unretrofiedforu

You forgot one more: 3) He wouldn't win.

sommelier

So, he'll let more pollution into the air & water of NJ so that he can look "politically correct" to the gas & oil companies & their toadies in the GOP. Nice. Very nice.

Matt F.

Actually, what the Gothamist article doesn't mention is that Christie is also banning coal plants. Guess they were too busy making him look like an EVIL REPUBLICAN.

randomtransplant

Where in New Jersey would a new coal plant go in the first place? That "concession" is patronizing, not really worth mentioning.

gothamist_tips

He's banning NEW coal-fired plants, which isn't that impressive because those are relatively tough to get built anyway because no one wants to live near one.