Washington, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today expressed its opposition to proposals for a cap-and-trade program directly regulating the electric utility sector becausesuch legislation will have a substantially negative impact on the international competitiveness of the steel industry.  In a letter sent today to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson stated that an electric utility cap-and-trade bill “will increase costs to energy-intensive trade-exposed manufacturers such as the steel industry, undermining our ability to compete in global markets” and resulting in the loss of valuable manufacturing jobs and increases in emissions in other unregulated countries.