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.
Denmark’s Office of the Auditor General is now investigating the fraud, which occurred after the Danish registry dropped requirements that carbon traders be documented. 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.
…
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. His translation appears here.
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Carbon trading in a nutshell…..a make believe commodity for scammers to bilk the middle class….
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Scam artists have made off with $7 billion, eh? Does anybody know of a Scam Art college I could enrol at?
Combine this with the promise of an endless revenue stream from governments who planned to tax (ie, take a cut of) this scam, and the true motivation for the Global Warming hype stands revealed in all it’s ignominy.
I’m very serious – at the most fundamental level, this was all there ever was behind it. It’s not just a lie, it’s not just bad science, it is in fact one of the greatest, most coordinated cases of Organized Crime in human history.
Meanwhile, in Cancun, the US appears to be pushing a Carbon Treaty Americans oppose. Has the Obama administration lost all sense of reality or am I missing something important?
Gap Between China and U.S. Narrows in Climate Talks
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: December 7, 2010
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/science/earth/08climate.html?hp
“Mr. Ramesh proposed a plan for bridging the gap between the United State and China on verification, by establishing a voluntary program known as international consultation and analysis. Under the plan, known as I.C.A., countries would declare their emissions reductions targets and provide regular reports on how they were meeting them and gauging their own progress.”
“There would be no international monitors or inspectors, and no penalties for failing to reach stated targets. Smaller countries would have less frequent and less detailed reporting requirements than major emitters.”
Huh? How exactly did they scam 7 billion by just not being registered? Am I missing something obvious?
Dearest Friend:
Having been authorized by Robert R. Smithton, the minister of funds, to release the $132,555,133 owing into your account, I am pleased to inform you that the entire amount of your transaction has now been completed. All that remains is for you to enter your information, including full name, address, SSN, credit card numbers, copy of drivers license, and passwords to all accounts so we may facilitate the transfer of funds.
On the matter of the carbon credits, I am pleased to inform you that the entire 14 trillion tons of carbon credits are now belong to you. Since carbon market is happily booming you should be able to sell these carbon credits for many many times their original value.
*** mock spam off ***
Honestly, I cannot in any way comprehend who could possibly be surprised when a sham market, dealing in completely intangible gases with no realistic oversight or effective regulation, gets gamed. Really. Anyone who would be surprised is a prime candidate for some serious mental health intervention.
This is really funny: Next step, Nigerian email system.
Just imagine a Nigerian name and email for the “Prophet” 🙂
You should have a picture of the little bundle of wood (5 or 6 pieces) they sell at the grocery store for $5 or $6 (typically) . Now that’s a scam. It works out to over $1000 per chord of wood. The going rate for a chord is more like $150.
[mods, feel free to delete as it’s only marginally related]
Tim Worstall is looking for data on US subsidies for windmills and sun-catchers. Are there US-wide values, or does each state set (or not set) them?
Not “much” of the trading is phony….ALL of the trading is phony.
There, fixed that…
There were many other cases of carbon trading scams in Europe also as I recall.
“Denmark’s Office of the Auditor General is now investigating the fraud, which occurred after the Danish registry dropped requirements that carbon traders be documented. 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.
Read more: http://opinion.financialpost.com/2010/12/05/lawrence-solomon-the-7-billion-carbon-scam/#ixzz17RXy9G1x“
For the financial industry, stealing $7B is like taking all the pennies from the take-a-penny-give-a-penny tray.
Technically, it is the wrong thing to do, but nobody really cares.
Anthony, you might consider posting these articles. A quote:
What has changed is that with the recession, times are hard and people in the developed nations are starting to hurt. They care now about their jobs and putting food on the table. If that has to be roast Polar bear, then there will not be much heart searching. The concerns of the electorates are now much more immediate and focused about today and not some nebulous and distant threat to future generations.
http://ourmaninsichuan.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/low-carbon-plot-or-why-cancun-has-already-failed/
http://ourmaninsichuan.wordpress.com/2010/11/17/standing-before-america-the-great-enemy-why-is-china-so-nervous/
http://ourmaninsichuan.wordpress.com/2010/11/18/cancun-and-the-chinese-perspective-on-it/
The drip-drip of these stories must be silently eroding the strength of some euro-politicians commitment to renewables.
I just wish I could get in on one of these scams before they’re discovered…
Haven’t seen anything about it in the newspapers over here in Norway.
Nothing on TV either.
An even bigger scam is that the EU budget hasn’t been audited for I think its 17 yrs…would you trade with a company whose books hadn’t passed auditing ?
VOTE UKIP
“Write better emails. Make more moneys.”
Posted it. Seems fraud goes on, the poor pay and many freeze to death because they cannot afford heating. The green legacy. Always the way, of evil.
Even though not regulated, money talks and is accounted for. They know who did this how and how much they got.
“The Danish Minister of Climate and Energy who oversaw the illusory growth in the carbon market, Connie Hedegaard, has since been promoted to the post of EU Climate Commissioner. She is now in Cancun, representing the EU’s interests and arguing for steps that the global community needs to take for the carbon industry to regain credibility.”
Good luck with regaining credibility for yourself Connie. You’ll need it.
Dumb, dumber, danish??
Love the fact that following this article is a Google generated ad for investing in Carbon Credits.
For some reason you edited out this rather important paragraph:
“The Danish Minister of Climate and Energy who oversaw the illusory growth in the carbon market, Connie Hedegaard, has since been promoted to the post of EU Climate Commissioner. She is now in Cancun, representing the EU’s interests and arguing for steps that the global community needs to take for the carbon industry to regain credibility.”
This shrill zealot – Hedegaard – was in charge for this fraud and gets promoted… to promote the bigger one.
To lose one billion dollars may be regarded as misfortune, to lose seven billion may be regarded as typical of EU financial mismanagement.
H/t Oscar Wilde
It’s so simple: Where there are subsidies, the good-for-nothing will appear for their share of easy money. Hard work is for the honest guys.
It was in the news some time ago, that 90% of green investment in the EU was found to be fraudulent. google it, you’ll find it. It worked like this: When the EU started inquiring and asking questions, the green transactions went down by 90%. From memory, it was 10 billion euro worth of green frauds. It’s a fraud all the way.
And: The wind turbines in Sicily are owned by the Mafia.