Regardless of the scientific uncertainty and the economic costs, there is an orchestrated movement to force the federal government and the American public to implement Kyoto-like registration and develop a cap and trade carbon emission system. Ultimately, this system will create a national energy tax in the short term and has implications that may harm free trade in the future. The legacy that we may hand over to future generations is not one of individual choices in a free market system, but one of lost opportunities in a global market controlled by a carbon cartel.