U.N.’s Carbon Credits Create Perverse Incentives

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  August 9th at 04:00 PM  | 

It seems harmless enough when an airline offers their customers “green indulgences” in the form of carbon credits when buying a ticket. The credits are intended to resolve the guilt the customer is supposed to feel for his wanton use of fossil fuels. In practice, the credits have become a perverse incentive for practices that are exactly opposite what the U.N. intended when it created | Read More »

Phishing for Carbon Credits

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  February 6th at 12:05 AM  | 

If you invent a new currency, don’t be surprised when the scammers and counterfeiters show up. Especially when your currency is itself a scam. Hackers Steal Millions in Carbon Credits The hackers launched a targeted phishing attack against employees of numerous companies in Europe, New Zealand and Japan, which appeared to come from the German Emissions Trading Authority. The workers were told that their companies | Read More »

How Cap and Trade Plans to Cripple Our Economy

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  December 17th at 02:15 PM  | 

If you can’t understand conceptually why a Cap and Trade system is such a bad deal, how about a concrete example? The European Union is a signatory of the Kyoto Protocols and have been dealing with a Carbon Cap and Trade system for several years. This article in today’s Wall Street Journal shows how the potential profit from the sale of carbon credits directly led | Read More »

Following the Money on Cap and Trade

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  October 30th at 11:00 AM  | 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is under attack by some of its members for its opposition to the Cap and Trade bill. The Natural Resources Defense Council, through its blogs and through the website whodoesthechamberrepresent.org maintains a running watch on those altruistic companies who have either quit the Chamber or publicly disputed its Climate Change position. To the NRDC, companies that stick with the Chamber’s | Read More »

Carbon Credits for Condoms

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  October 25th at 07:56 PM  | 

NYT Environment Reporter Floats Idea: Give Carbon Credits to Couples That Limit Themselves to One Child Washington (CNSNews.com) – Andrew Revkin, who reports on environmental issues for The New York Times, floated an idea last week for combating global warming: Give carbon credits to couples that limit themselves to having one child. Revkin later told CNSNews.com that he was not endorsing the idea, just trying | Read More »

Bobby Jindal Eyes the Carbon Market

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  September 24th at 11:40 PM  | 

Since the 1930′s, Louisiana has lost over 2,000 square miles to coastal erosion – an area larger than the state of Delaware. Stabilizing the remaining marshlands requires massive projects, such as plantings, erosion control structures and mass plantings, but more than anything it requires masses of money. Governor Bobby Jindal thinks he knows who might help foot the bill: you and me, pal, if Cap | Read More »

Congress Invents New Funny Money

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  May 17th at 10:27 PM  | 

The Constitution authorizes the Congress to coin money and to regulate its value. Hypothetically, if Congress wanted to, it could create an alternative to traditional greenbacks. Such a currency could enable off-balance sheet financing and circumvent the President’s budgeting process. As such, it would be invaluable as a way to get recalcitrant politicians, states and industries to go along with Congress’s bidding, without running into | Read More »