I’m sure I read that the Chicago carbon exchange (or whatever they called it) collapsed and closed for lack of actual business in January of this year. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/09/collapse-chicago-climate-exchange-means-strategy-shift-global-warming-curbs/
Someone should ask to see the cancelled checks on that $17.4 million.
This is what I do not get. I have 5 tons of carbon. You have no carbon but are allocated 3 tons. I buy your 3 tons. I now have 8 tons.
How did we reduce carbon usage?
In order to buy those 3 tons i will need money. So I raise prices on my customers.
So the government taxed the American people to pay me money to fleece my customers so I can have more energy and some poor country can make money.
Actually the money trail on the $17 million would be curious to explore. They are using federally owned building space already, so that’s not a cost. They had to have IT support...figure two guys for $90k each in the DC area. They have travel money for conferences...figure at least $300k for that per year. Toss in an administrative person to manage their GPC card and a front-desk gal (another $200k total).
As for the comment of exploring the market...they actually are sitting there and developing strategies where it’s probably not even a market item....it’s in plain view and figured into various things that we already do. You’d have to expect this to come out in the second four years of the administration.