The carbon credit market continues it's slow death...

I'll bet Al Gore has already cashed out...

Via Financial Times:

At least 10 London banks have scaled back or closed their carbon trading desks amid turmoil in the European emissions trading scheme.
The fledgling market was once seen as a promising growth area, with the City of London Corporation predicting in 2006 that London would become the leading provider of services to the “mushrooming” sector.
But the number of City workers employed on carbon desks has fallen by 70 per cent in the past four years, according to Anthony Hobley, president of the Climate Markets & Investors Association.

Good News: European cap-and-trade system collapsing...

It is all a scam anyway...

Via Spiegel: 

The European cap-and-trade system has slid into near meaninglessness as Germany bickers on the sidelines. Hopes that the election in Lower Saxony might resolve the high-level bickering were misguided. Now Europe's carbon market has hit a new low.

For those involved in European Union climate policy, the German regional election in Lower Saxony on Sunday was a nail-biter. The hope for many was that Germany's pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) would suffer defeat and leader Philipp Rösler, who has been under pressure within his party for weeks now, would be forced to step down as economics minister. But that didn't happen. Instead, Rösler ended up in a stronger position than before, and the flagship project of Europe's climate policy settled deeper into a lifeless coma.[...]

'Something Has To Be Done Urgently' 
 
Indeed, the market for carbon credits has reached new lows. On Thursday, the price of carbon credits dropped 40 percent within 30 seconds before regaining most of the losses. In an indicator of just how vulnerable ETS threatens to become, the volatility followed a nearly meaningless vote for a non-binding recommendation by the industry committee of the European Parliament that the backloading plan be rejected.... Keep on reading...

More Carbon trading fraud...

Climate change global warming  is about money. There are two mechanisms for getting money. One is from government programs. An example of this was the almost $100 billion in green money in the failed Stimulus. The other mechanism is carbon trading. The government method os full of cronyism and pork. The carbon trading method is fraught with fraud.

Via The American Interest:

Two court cases point out a disturbing loophole in one of the green movement’s signature policies: carbon trading. In both cases, the defendant is charged with selling millions of dollars’ worth of fake carbon credits—in one case $42 million. The NYT has the story:

Under the E.P.A. program, initiated in 2009, a producer who makes diesel fuel from vegetable oils and animal fats receives renewable energy credits for every gallon manufactured. The producer can then resell the credits to refiners, who pay millions of dollars for them under a government mandate to support a minimum level of production. The credits can also be resold, a commonplace activity in the arena of corporate compliance with federal environmental rules. The problem is that at least three companies were selling bogus credits without producing any biodiesel at all, the E.P.A. has said in announcements over the last year. . . .The credits are easier to counterfeit than hundred-dollar bills. Known as “renewable identification numbers,” or RINs, the 38-digit credits have no physical form and are traded electronically. Exxon Mobil, Marathon and Sunoco are among the many big companies that have bought bogus credits.

Green Fail: Carbon Credit Trading Causes Developing Countries To Increase Production Of Dangerous Greenhouse Gas

This is a prime example of unintended consequences from excessive government regulation...

Via NY Times:

Greenhouse gases were rated based on their power to warm the atmosphere. The more dangerous the gas, the more that manufacturers in developing nations would be compensated as they reduced their emissions. 

But where the United Nations envisioned environmental reform, some manufacturers of gases used in air-conditioning and refrigeration saw a lucrative business opportunity. 

They quickly figured out that they could earn one carbon credit by eliminating one ton of carbon dioxide, but could earn more than 11,000 credits by simply destroying a ton of an obscure waste gas normally released in the manufacturing of a widely used coolant gas. That is because that byproduct has a huge global warming effect. The credits could be sold on international markets, earning tens of millions of dollars a year. 

That incentive has driven plants in the developing world not only to increase production of the coolant gas but also to keep it high — a huge problem because the coolant itself contributes to global warming and depletes the ozone layer. That coolant gas is being phased out under a global treaty, but the effort has been a struggle. Keep on reading...

Obama blows $17 million on failed carbon trading scheme

The U.S. has already had a carbon trading exchange. It was called the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). The venture was a complete failure and announced they were closing last October. Carbon trading is still going on in Europe where it is riddled with corruption and scams.

(CNSNews.com) — The Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it has awarded $17.4 million for pilot projects that will begin exploring how to establish a market for greenhouse gas (GHG) credits, a key component of a cap and trade system, to help reduce carbon and other emissions that apparently contribute to global warming.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the projects were the “foundational work” for establishing an American carbon market.

“This is really sort of foundational work that’s being done,” Vilsack told reporters on a conference call on Wednesday.

Cap-and-Trade Fail: European Union Suspends Carbon Trading

This time there appears to have been a theft of permits in online attacks. Previously, the European carbon market has been plagued by VAT fraud, a phishing scam and the re-sale of used carbon credits. The Chicago carbon market has already been permanently closed. The European market will soon follow. Most of the buyers have left the trading floor.

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union locked all accounts in its carbon market Wednesday, after a security breach, seeking to protect the battered reputation of the EU's main weapon against climate change.

The United States, Japan and Australia have all delayed implementing similar cap and trade schemes, and the latest glitch to the EU scheme could detract further from carbon trading as a global policy.

Scam Artists Steal $7 Billion From Carbon Trading Industry

Let's hope some of the money belonged to Al Gore.

From Watts Up With That:

Here’s more clear evidence that the Carbon Trading industry is doomed. Not only has carbon trading been halted in the USA due to lack of a market and ludicrously low prices of a nickel per ton, now it has been learned that in Denmark, more than 7 billion dollars has been lost due to the faulty system. Next step, Nigerian email system.

From Lawrence Solomon at the Financial Post:

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, according to Europol.

Read more here.

Another $2.8 billion carbon trading scam was uncovered in China earlier.