Posted on 10/26/2012 11:49:46 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Europes carbon market is in deep trouble and its not just environmentalists sounding the alarm. Back in April, the CEO of Shell said that the European Unions system for trading allowances for the emission of greenhouse gases was in danger. But thats about as direct as anyone will get in this world of bureaucratese. Most simply talk of price weakness (meaning that emission credits are absurdly cheap), a desire for long-term policy certainty (the system needs a fix!) and the need to restore confidence (and the fix has to come fast!)
The simple fact is that the most important tool in Europes fight against climate change needs a major fix. When it was introduced in 2005, the idea was to make pollution expensive. And in the summer of 2008, the price for emitting a ton of carbon peaked at a price of around 30 (US$38.81). But the global financial crisis and ensuing economic downturn in Europe have taken their toll. Prices are currently hovering around 8 (US$10.35) per ton of carbon emissions, hardly the disincentive policy makers had hoped for.
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Carbon credits.....an abstract absurdity! Who would have dreamed that this scam could fail?
I had a whole retirement income stream, based on discontinuing my consumption of broccoli....
What is broken, is the minds of the people who allowed this to be put into effect.
It’s the whole EU that is broken!
That which is flawed from its inception cannot “break”.
The linked story explains how Chinese companies are able to manufacture the equivalent of 11,000 tons of Carbon credits by creating and disposing of one ton of refrigerant gas.
Perverse incentives lead to perverse behavior. D'uh!
Talk radio superstar sues Obamas EPA in federal court
Global Warming on Free Republic
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.