The ‘road to climate hell’ has no congestion pricing

What was Kathy Hochul thinking? [Bloomberg]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a huge vulnerability for Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Congestion pricing]( deserved [a shot](. - Elon Musk, you [got caught](. - Fix the border? Biden [will not](. - The Tories lost the [migrant plot](. Cold Feet on a Highway to Hell Riddle me this: How is it that on the same morning UN chief António Guterres [told a room]( full of New Yorkers that the world is on “a highway to climate hell,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul [indefinitely postponed]( the city’s congestion pricing plan? Could she not have found a less destructive way to [appease]( suburban Democrats? Now, we can’t even put a toll on our highway to hell. We’re doomed, surely. The idea of a congestion tax has [always been]( controversial. Justin Fox has said [it’s unfair]( to the residents of New Jersey. Tyler Cowen [once wrote]( that it’s bad economics. And Liam Denning has rightly [pointed out]( that the name of the plan — the Central Business District Tolling Program — leaves much to be desired. But the bones of it are good; we want to save [the ozone](! Combatting climate change is not some popularity contest. It is tough work. Work that, at times, feels deeply unfair (and might result in [occasional death threats](, but I digress). But politics, in its most rudimentary form, is a popularity contest. Which is why we have “[stunning 11th-hour](” shifts in policy stances that cite vague “unintended consequences” instead of stating the obvious: My party is desperate and throwing this deeply disliked idea in the legislative trash can will get us more voters. Now, we’ve completely eviscerated a policy that could have helped save the planet (and [the MTA](), and for what? So Brock Archibald in Westchester can drive his Lexus below 60th Street whenever he wants? Ugh. The worst part is that we know congestion taxes work. Two decades ago, [London]( slapped a price on driving and guess what happened? Traffic immediately fell by about 15%. Buses went faster. Wait times improved. Sure, New York [wasn’t built for bikes](, but imagine how fast you could commute to work on two wheels without a dozen SUVs in your way. The knock-on effects of Hochul’s [last-minute backtracking]( will set back the rest of the country: “Cities and metros like Atlanta look to the coasts for governance ideas — we’re cautious followers of trends that work, not leaders,” our [columnist]( Conor Sen [tweeted](. “New York getting cold feet on congestion pricing holds back urbanism nationwide.” An Orange Juice Dilemma Let’s say you are the CEO of two companies. The first is a luxury skincare brand that you founded in 2003. The second is a juice company — let’s call it “Pitter” — that you recently acquired for a cool $44 billion. Both businesses require A LOT of oranges. The eco-friendly Vitamin C Serum you produce is so popular that it’s currently [sold out]( and everyone from [Katy Perry to Justin Bieber]( has it in their medicine cabinet. And your Supercharged X-treme OJ is on track to [transform]( your juice company after a bit of [a rough patch](. Trouble is, your [orange guy]( tells you he hasn’t seen a harvest this bad since 1988: You need to make a tough decision: Which company should get the oranges and which should go without? Instead of choosing, you try a different tactic. You tell the skincare shareholders that your orange shipments are projected to rise to 85,000 by the end of this year while also telling your orange guy to divert part of the shipment to your juice company. The logic behind the lie is simple: The Vitamin C Serum has a cult-like following … if customers have to wait a few extra months, it’ll be fine. And it is fine, until CNBC obtains [revealing emails]( from your orange guy and the stock of your skincare company tumbles. Now, at this point you should realize we’re not really talking about oranges. Although there is a citrus shortage (Mark Gongloff says you can blame it on the outbound [El Niño](), this is a story about Elon Musk. His oranges are artificial intelligence chips. Both Tesla and Twitter require these chips, but Nvidia — Musk’s orange guy — can’t hand them over all at once. So [Musk told Nvidia]( to let X jump the line ahead of Tesla, effectively delaying the automaker’s ability to develop autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. Matt Levine [says]( the timing of these revelations couldn’t be more comical: Next week, Musk plans to [ask Tesla’s shareholders]( to vote to approve an 11-figure compensation package for him. “Do you think this story helps him or hurts him?” Matt asks. “On the one hand, if I were a Tesla shareholder, I might be kind of mad about this, and be less inclined to give him his money. On the other hand, the [more or less explicit rationale]( for giving him the money is ‘if you don’t give him the money, he’s going to focus less on Tesla and prioritize his other companies instead.’” Beyond that, it’s worth wondering whether Musk’s [big payday]( matters at all. Liam Denning [says]( “the original rationale for the award — to keep Musk engaged with Tesla’s success — is somewhat absurd: How can a business owner with a stake valued at roughly $72 billion be feeling unmotivated?” Really, he’s just trying to juice the victim card as much as he can. Bonus Tesla Reading: Your Tesla could make your toast. Why [doesn’t it](? — David Fickling Telltale Immigration Charts Yesterday, President Biden signed an executive order to stop migrants at the US-Mexico border. That might sound promising, until you realize that he’s already signed [over 500 executive orders]( on immigration, on top of the 472 by former President Donald Trump. “For all that presidential ink, encounters at the border [hovered near record highs]( last year, and immigration understandably remains at the top of voters’ minds,” James Gibney [writes](. Although there’s currently [a lull]( in border encounters, James says that has more to do with Mexico’s migrant crackdown than a change in global or US policies. Absent a complete overhaul, the southern border and America’s troubled asylum system will remain in a bizarre limbo indefinitely. Across the pond, migrants are also top of mind for voters. Matthew Brooker [says]( immigration is a “huge vulnerability for the Conservative Party.” When Rishi Sunak took office, he aimed to bring net migration below 500,000. Instead, it jumped to a record 764,000 in 2022, before [dropping backÂ](to 685,000 last year. “The outcome of the Brexit referendum called by Cameron was in part a vote against immigration,” Matthew explains. But strategies that promise to “stop the boats” end up alienating moderate voters who may have considered supporting the Tories during the general election. Nigel Farage’s [entry]( into the race only makes things worse. Further Reading Fragile banks aren’t a [competitive advantage]( for the US or Europe. — Bloomberg’s editorial board This pharma company wasn’t ready to defend its [hallucinogenic treatment]( at its FDA hearing. — Lisa Jarvis India’s investors [wanted to believe]( one man could deliver a complicated country. They were wrong. — Mihir Sharma The former lieutenant governor of Georgia is [rejecting Trump]( and helping Biden. — Nia-Malika Henderson Hey Apple, nobody wants you to use Siri [to experiment]( with artificial intelligence. — Dave Lee The one place on the planet that’s practically begging for inflation? [Thailand](. — Daniel Moss The [next UK government]( won’t be in that bad an economic position. — Marcus Ashworth ICYMI Nvidia is the first [$3 trillion]( company. The NBA is cooking up a $76 billion [TV deal](. Israel [targeted]( US lawmakers on social media. King Charles III [bank notes]( are in circulation. Eleven Madison Park is opening [a cocktail bar](. Kickers Sabrina Carpenter [asks nicely](. The Traitors [Season 3]( will be diabolical. Chicago is the [mango capital]( of the world. The deep sea is home to some [crazy-looking animals](. DC got a new [national monument](: Notes: Please send oranges and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Threads](, [TikTok](, [Twitter](, [Instagram]( and [Facebook](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](