Regarding “Automakers try to salvage victory from climate defeat” (May 3), any inclination by automakers to abandon sound science and “buy a seat at the table” by supporting carbon dioxide restrictions is a classic example of the so-called “prisoners’ dilemma.”
If businesses potentially affected by adverse legislation would all hold firm on the science, everybody wins. When individual companies try to seek gain at the expense of their companions by cutting a deal, everybody loses, except perhaps those companies that cut the early deal.
It is disappointing that an issue as potentially devastating to the American economy as carbon dioxide restrictions may well be decided by threats to punish those who do not buy a seat at the table.
James M. Taylor ([email protected]) is senior fellow for environment policy at The Heartland Institute.
