This commentary discusses the opinion piece published on 1 June 2014 by Professor Robert Stavins in The New York Times. Professor Robert Stavins argues that "The Only Feasible Way of Cutting Emissions" is to set up a market for tradable permits. We review and criticize his mains arguments. Our purpose here is not to deny the possibility of carbon trading, but to call for a realistic assessment of the deployment of cap-and-trade systems and their limitations.