In my opinion, the Dem big money guys saw all the money made at the stock exchange on Wall Street and tried to duplicate that for themselves.
So they created the Carbon exchange in Chicago and the Health exchange in Wash DC. Even better, for them, is using the power of government to force every American to buy their carbon credits and health care through these two exchanges. They would quietly get a small piece of every dollar going through these exchanges.
They were going to be instantly among the wealthiest people on the Earth and many will still profit handsomely from ObamaCare’s Health exchange if we don't repeal it.
These schemes work much better if there is a force of government behind them. Government doesn't really need to sell you a product or a service, they can just take the money, even if it's just for "clean air" or any other gas.
As Willie Sutton reportedly explained when asked why he was robbing banks, "Because that's where the money is". Democrats (and other socialists) figured out long ago that government is where the big, easy and legal money is.
Excerpt from RIP: Carbon trading - Green Hell Blog, October 26, 2010
Outside of a report in Crain’s Chicago Business and a soft-pedalled article in the certain-that-cap-and-trade-will-happen trade publication Carbon Control News, the media has ignored the demise of the only voluntary U.S. effort at carbon trading. CCX was sold earlier this year for $600 million to the New York Stock Exchange-listed IntercontinentalExchange (Symbol: ICE), an electronic futures and derivatives platform based in Atlanta and London. ICE also acquired the European Climate Exchange as part of the transaction. The ECX remains open to accomodate the Kyoto Protocol-required carbon trading among EU nations. The sale of CCX to ICE allowed climateers like Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management and Goldman Sachs to cash out of investments in CCX. At its founding in November 2000, some estimated that the size of CCX’s carbon trading market could reach $500 billion. The CCX was the brainchild of Richard Sandor who used $1.1 million in grants from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation to launch the CCX. Sandor received $98.5 million for his 16.5% stake in CCX when it was sold. Not bad for an idea that didn’t pan out. ..... < snip > In a little reported move, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is ending carbon trading this year — the very purpose for which it was founded. CCX will remain open for business, however, as it transitions into the murky world of dealing in carbon offsets.