Carbon credits' dirty secret

Energy companies and speculators make windfall profits while consumers are hit hard

At the bottom of the house of sand on which the Kyoto accord and world carbon trading markets are built, there's a leaking foundation.

Otherwise known as a carbon credit.

Carbon credits are the main mechanism by which Kyoto transfers wealth from developed nations like Canada to developing ones like China.

They are also the stock bought and sold on carbon trading markets, usually in concert with government "cap and trade" schemes. [pronounced: 'scams']

First, buying and selling carbon credits doesn't remove one molecule of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Second, carbon credits weren't designed to lower emissions. They were designed to shift emissions around. [snip]

As for carbon trading outside the UN [i.e., non-Kyoto related], the world's largest cap-and-trade market is Europe's Emissions Trading Scheme. Its annual carbon emissions are rising, while big energy companies and energy speculators have made windfall profits and consumers have been hit hard by skyrocketing electricity bills...

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