Mightier Than The Hulk

Actor Mark Ruffalo is a vocal environmentalist whose stands, such as his opposition to fracking, we usually oppose. But, hey: When The Hulk is right, he’s right.

This week, the actor took to the Twitterverse to complain about a proposed New York law: “Imagine making Apple Computers unable to sell Apple Computers directly to their customers. That’s what NYS is trying to do to @TeslaMotors.”

He was referring to a bill in Albany that would ban car companies from selling directly to customers at mall kiosks, as electriccar maker Tesla now does. Car dealers are pushing the bill. They claim Tesla is skirting an existing law that bans direct auto sales and that doing so gives it an “unfair advantage.”

Sorry, but the way to protect consumers is to force businesses to compete with one another for their dollars. If customers want to buy from car dealers, they can. But if they want to buy a car via a kiosk, why not let them? Especially given that Tesla’s environmentally friendly Model S was just ranked Consumer Reports’ “best overall” car. And with a sticker price of $89,650, the Model S is clearly pitched to wellheeled and wellinformed consumers.

The bill’s Senate sponsor, Republican Lee Zeldin, says he’s willing to write a carveout for Tesla. But this would only make a bad law even worse. Because when it comes to “unfair advantages,” the most unfair are the special protections pols give favored businesses and industries. If Albany’s pols really want to help consumers, they should be pushing to scrap this competitionlimiting law, not expand it.

But then, this is New York — where even The Hulk can find himself with less muscle than the special interests.