Governor Martinez has thanked the Environmental Improvement Board for their service and shown them the door, and I say good riddance. In fact, I’d encourage her to just get rid of this appointed board in its entirety. Now, I did find this statement by outgoing member Gay Dillingham quite thought provoking:
“So as a citizen I would expect the same dedication be given to reviewing all the evidence before she commits to overturning or supporting it,” Dillingham said. “History has shown us there is a dynamic relationship between regulatory obligation and private sector innovation and we need enough time to give this process a chance to work for New Mexico.”
Yeah, it has. The regulatory obligation of the Prohibition gave us speakeasies and created great entrepreneurial opportunities for organized crime. The increasing regulatory obligation in the form of ever-increasing taxes has led to a vibrant and creative class of tax shelter planners. I’ll leave it to greater minds than mine to conjure up what sort of private sector “innovations” could be created by Ms. Dillingham’s nonsensical cap and trade in a bubble regulation.