Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 11/07/2008 6:59:47 PM PST by Robert A Cook PE
Nov 07, 2008
Global concern about the ailing economy has led the European Environment Committee to revise its energy package. The committee announced that it agreed the European Union should revise key clauses in its climate and energy package to adjust for the current financial crisis. The economic slowdown has hurt carbon credit demand and pricing.
Over the past few weeks EU member states have requested permission to make some revisions to protect their economies. Bulgaria, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Poland have criticized the proposed shift to a pan-European carbon credit auctioning mechanism and have gotten the support of France, Germany and Spain in their efforts to change the planned trading mechanism. See more here.
As Carl Mortished noted in the Australian, The price of carbon has collapsed. In only three months, life has become a lot cheaper for polluters. The financial cost of warming the planet has plummeted in Europe’s emissions trading system (ETS) and the effectiveness of such a volatile market mechanism in curbing carbon is being questioned. You may recall that the ETS is a mechanism to encourage businesses to reduce their carbon output. Europe’s larger companies are allocated permits to emit CO2, and these allowances, called EUAs, can be traded on exchanges. Companies that emit less CO2 than their allocation can sell EUAs for cash, but inefficient polluters must buy EUAs or face financial penalties. Carbon’s falling price spells companies going bust, the loss of jobs and the shredding of political reputations. Over the next year, no politician with re-election hopes will back a policy that would triple the price of carbon for industry and raise consumers’ energy costs. There is a wider question about the ETS that must be addressed, and that is whether it is a sensible mechanism to regulate carbon.
Finally, as David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia for Reuters reports here, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s credentials may be green, but gathering financial gloom means fixing the economy will take priority on his agenda before dealing with national carbon trading and clean-energy investment. Analysts and carbon brokers believe Obama’s support for an emissions cap-and-trade scheme and plans to create millions of “green” industry jobs send exactly the right signal for carbon trading and the burgeoning renewable energy industry. But don’t expect miracles overnight, they said. Depleted government coffers, rising unemployment and plunging profits across most industries could prevent him from making sweeping changes in his crucial first year. “We’re guessing until he goes and checks his bank account and finds out how much in debt he is,” said Michael Hopkins, energy derivatives manager at TFS Energy Asia-Pacific, referring to the hundreds of billions of dollars pledged by the Bush administration to stabilize the financial markets.
Pushing through a national emissions trading scheme won’t be the top item on Obama’s hit-list, Hopkins said in Singapore. “I think he has other issues to deal with before tackling the environmental side of it,” he added.
Should we keep a running total?
He’s going to get to Jan 20 and back out saying it was all a set up to make a black man look bad.
Also: La Nina will continue, probably a little weaker this winter. More cold weather over most of US and Canada.
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, AMS Fellow
La Nina is gradually returning. The Multivariate ENSO Index (MEI) has dropped to -0.74 in October, well into weak La Nina territory. The tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures all the way from South America to beyond the dateline are back below normal. The North Pacific as a whole remains strongly in the cold mode (negative PDO). The Atlantic is weakly in its warm mode (Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation is positive). The sun recently showing slight signs of life is still at solar minimum levels. The winds in the stratosphere over the tropical Pacific are blowing anomalously westerly) in their Quasi Biennial Oscillation.
All these conditions point to another cold winter in all but the southeastern United States, most of central and western Canada, most of western Europe, eastern and southern Asia. Expect a coolish summer in South Africa, Indonesia and South America and parts of New Zealand and Australia.
Yes
Will there be enough bandwidth available for this? ;-)
Should we keep a running total?
FOTFL Might be easier to track the ones that he actually keeps.
So much BS and so little time, the only carbon worth owning is very hard and it is called a diamond.
reference ping
“Finally, as David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia for Reuters reports here, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s credentials may be green, but gathering financial gloom means fixing the economy will take priority on his agenda before dealing with national carbon trading and clean-energy investment.”
Blather. And from a reporter in Asia? Barack is going full steam ahead on carbon trading.
“We’re guessing until he goes and checks his bank account and finds out how much in debt he is,”
Funny. We are the world reserve currency. Obama is going ahead with carbon trading—or trying for it at least.
Yes, let’s.
“Not even president for 2 days, and already Obama must to abandon his campaign promises under economic pressures ......
Should we keep a running total?”
No! Because if he does keep all of his promises, we will really be screwed. Let the environmentalists point out his broken promises.
IRONY....Europe is Right and America is Left.
Following Liberal logic, we should do what they do, right?
You do realize, don't you, that these terms are way beyond the intellectual grasp of the average Obama voter? :-)
One a different thread, I suggested we keep track.
I will start with matching money for campaign. Promises, and dates broken would be nice...
Might actuall make money with the plow this winter.
What? You actually *WANT* Obama to keep his socialist promises?!?!?
A New Theory of Climate Change
by Larry Vardiman, Ph.D.*
http://www.icr.org/article/4156/
This is an astounding article about recent proof that the weather increasing and decreasing in temperature is due to sun spot activity. A absolute must read for anyone who desires the answer in scientific but simple language about a new theory and scientific test that may prove it. Please let me know if you have read the article and what you think.
Spread the news far and wide!
thanks, bfl
But, but, but.... It’s the end of the World if we don’t do something!!!
Oh never mind, we can’t afford it all of a sudden...
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