California’s Carbon Folly, Chicago Climate Exchange
Carbon Trading Schemes in Trouble and Ignored
Why are carbon trading issues that have gone awry ignored by the media? Two examples: 1-scam artists from around the world, capitalizing on lax regulations at the Danish emissions trading registry have made off with an estimated $7-billion over the last two years, and 2- the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) announced that it will be ending carbon trading this year. Both of these have been underreported (ignored?) by most media.
Denmark
The Danish climate emission permit registry allowed companies with no documented address trade CO2 emission permits. While allowing a free-for-all served the carbon market on the short term by appearing to inflate the interest in carbon as a commodity, it ultimately backfired when much of the trading proved to be phony. One of the companies had the address of a parking lot. Lawrence Solomon notes, “This story, greatly underreported, came to me via a Norwegian reader, Geir Hasnes, who has translated one of the few press reports to have appeared.” (1)
Denmark isn’t the only place where carbon folks have been in bed with organized crime. A probe in Germany, where the total damage is estimated at 80 million Euros followed investigations in Britain, France, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands over carbon fraud over the past year. (2)
Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
In a little reported move, the Chicago Climate Exchange announced on October 12 that it will be ending carbon trading—the only purpose for which it was founded—this year. At its founding in November 2000, it was estimated that the size of CCX’s carbon trading market could reach $500 billion. That estimate ballooned over the years to $10 trillion. (3)
The CCX seemed to have a lock on success. Not only was a young Barack Obama a board member of the Joyce Foundation that funded the fledgling CCX, but over the years it attracted such big name climate investors as Goldman Sachs and Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management. But, as Steve Milloy reports, “A funny thing happened on the way to the CCX’s highly anticipated looting of taxpayers and consumers—cap-and-trade imploded following its high water mark of the House passage of the Waxman-Markey bill. With ongoing economic recession, Climategate, and the Tea party movement, what once seemed like a certainty became anything but. CCX’s panicked original investors bailed out this spring, unloading the dog and its across-the-pond cousin, the European Climate Exchange (ECX) for $600 million to the New York Stock Exchange—traded Intercontinental Exchange (ICE)—an electronic futures and derivatives platform based in Atlanta and London.” (3)
Milloy adds, “Outside of a report in Crain’s Chicago Business, and a soft-pedaled article in a small trade publication, the media has entirely ignored the demise of the only US effort at carbon trading.”
California’s Carbon Folly
Ignoring the facts, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) continues to plunge forward to implement AB32’s carbon trading schemes. This action is being taken even though there is clear evidence that the carbon trading industry is rampant with fraud, and the price of carbon has dropped to a nickel per ton.
Russ Steele asks, “Why is it that CARB cannot see the hand writing on the wall? Any carbon trading scheme that they can craft will fail, just like the Chicago Carbon Exchange. Why is it that CARB thinks they are smart enough to out-whit the carbon trading fraudsters.?”
References
- Lawrence Solomon, “The $7-billion carbonscam,” Financial Post, December 5, 2010
- Vera Eckert, “Germany arrests 4 in CO2 probe, 50 more suspects”, May 3, 2010
- Steve Milloy, “If Al Gore’s Chicago Climate Exchange Suffers Total Failure, Does the MSM Make a Sound?”
- Russ Steele, “Mary Nichols, Call Denmark’s Auditor General, CARB Carbon Trading Scheme is Doomed,” NC Media Watch, December 7, 2010
| | Jack Dini
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Jack Dini, Livermore, CA, writes a monthly column on science and environmental issues for Plating & Surface Finishing and also writes for other publications. He is the author of Challenging Environmental Mythology (2003). Jack can be reached at: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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