From the I’ve been telling you so for some time now department comes this headline from Bloomberg.
And it is getting desperate in the carbon market. Readers may recall last week I reported two new record lows on the EU carbon price, where Friday saw a 10% drop in a single day to add to the long slide:
I called it “end times for carbon trading“. The US CCX Carbon market collapsed two years ago, it was only a matter of time for the EU market. Today, there was a new record low according to Reuters “point carbon” where the price closed .10 lower than Friday.
EU carbon recovers from new low below 5 euros
Watch the stampede to sell tomorrow.
Dr. Roger Piekle Jr. said today in a tweet that:
So with EU ETS carbon “worthless” Aussie gov’t linkage to EU ETS now looking like a cost-free bit of political genius with no policy effect
And, then there’s California, going it alone with their CARB auction, who at least had the good sense not to linkup with Australia. I really do hope somebody goes to jail over this scam.
BTW, the EU Carbon Price is now in “charcoal briquette” territory, which is what happened just before the Chicago Climate Exchange collapsed. A ton of EU carbon is worth less than the smallest bag of charcoal briquettes:
OMG it’s ENRON all over again.
The EU Parliament is voting next month on further reducing the number of carbon credits, in a desperate attempt to nail the price to the perch.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/breaking-news/eu-urges-quick-decision-on-carbon-credits/story-e6frg90f-1226558765463
Eventually there will only be a couple of permits left. Unfortunately by that time that’s all European industry will need, having been destroyed by high energy costs
The only scenario where anyone goes to jail requires a minor civil war first.
Oh, the stupid… it runs so deep.
There is no real commodity behind carbon trading. History will remember this folly as validation of that famous utterance, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
THIS SCAM MUST FAIL. (sorry for shouting).
Tulips
Geoff Chaucer knew all about “carbon credits” when he wrote his magnum opus eight hundred years ago. Of course, back then they were called “Papal indulgences”, and they were sold by professional Pardoners of dubious character, silver tongues, and obvious motives:
With him there rode a noble Pardoner
Of Rouncival, his friend and his compeer;
Straight from the court of Rome had journeyed he.
…
His knapsack lay before him in his lap,
Stuffed full with pardons brought from Rome all hot.
…
Well could he read a lesson or a story,
But best of all he sang an offertory;
For he knew well that when that song was sung,
Then must he preach, and all with smoothened tongue.
To gain some silver, preferably from the crowd;
Therefore he sang so merrily and so loud.
…
I stand up like a scholar in pulpit,
And when the uneducated people all do sit,
I preach, as you have heard me say before,
And tell a hundred false jokes, less or more.
…
Of avarice and of all such wickedness
Is all my preaching, thus to make them free
With offered pence, the which pence come to me.
For my intent is only pence to win,
And not at all for punishment of sin.
(Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales; General Prologue and The Pardoner’s Tale)
OMG, that price…it’s…it’s…unprecedented!
The carbon market is going up in flames. Do they need a carbon permit for that?
As do I but they won’t. This is all an elaborate con to facilitate a mechanism for transferring hundreds of billions of dollars of money from the people who can least afford it into the pockets of the supporters of a political agenda. It is repayment for their support in getting a certain group of politicians elected. In return, the politicians lavish them with billions. This should absolutely make the blood of any honest citizen with any sense of integrity boil. Why are these politicians and hucksters not being thrown into prison or at the very least not seeing their property obtained by these ill-gotten funds confiscated and sold off to reimburse the public purse? After the Obama administration’s so-called “stimulus” scam where over a TRILLION dollars was borrowed from future generations to line the pockets of political supporters, this is the largest con game ever played. When will the people demand that it stop?
Faster,please. As I have mentioned to many eco-cultists I know,explain to me how this can work. They sputter something about reducing evil plant food,curbing the plant food pollution,etc. I then simply ask them…..sooooooo….I release a tonne of CO2,pay you a buck for doing so,and the CO2 disappears??? The only thing disappearing is my buck,which I deserve for being such an idjit in the first place.
And his inaugural speech today, President Obama chided climate deniers.
“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. (Applause.) Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms. “
Is it possible to short these shares? If so, seems like a good way to make money.
The price isn’t really a proper market price, although it has been portrayed as such. It looks like a market mechanism is used to set the price, but true markets balance supply and demand using price. In the “carbon” market, supply is decreed by governments. The “market” price tells us nothing about the value of the product, only that governments have over-supplied. If they have the willpower, they can bump the price up again simply by cutting supply.
BTW, the product isn’t carbon, it’s negative CO2 – those who wish to “sell” negative CO2 (via “carbon sinks”) in the “market” are now paid less for it.
Now I have cleared all that up, who, other than someone forced to by government decree, would now play this market.
Bulbs, Tulip, Bubble, Sea, South.
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It never was and nether will be a true market; the product is totally ‘virtual’, not pegged to anything in reality really and is without limit. The only real price it can support is $0.
Get out and get out quick – this will implode soon with a very expensive ‘pop!’ . Good ridence.
Now if we can only export this failure to Australia – the day would be complete…
As a somewhat dissapointed Australian, please feel free to ridicule us at your convenience. Should you meet any of us travelling, please have away at chuckling at how silly we are. 9/10 times it’ll be one of our backpackers, who’s lived on a diet of ‘catastrophe’ from our wonderful socialst left teaching system.
FYI, the same Government who gave us the carbon tax, also gave us a mining tax that in 6 months has raised – Zero, nil, nada.
It’s hard to see how anything short of a civil war can correct this whole thing, C credits, policies, corrupt science that is destroying the economy. It would depress me too much if I were to accept that so many people are stupider than I thought. The Guardian chided the London Mayor for musing that global warming isn’t looking too credible to an empiricist who is seeing so much cold and snow in his city. They would perhaps be right if it wasn’t for the vast freeze in Canada and Russia and China. Remember the Japanese were bemoaning the fact a few years ago that it had become a long trip by sea to take tourists to see sea ice? Well you can walk entirely on ice from Lake Winnipeg in southern Manitoba, over the arctic ice to Hokkaido, Japan..
http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil/hycomARC/navo/arcticicennowcast.gif
CO2. H2O. Both are dreaded Greenhouse Gases. Carbon trading has gone bust. Are they now going to start trading water rights?
I’ve got $6. I’ll take the briquets. With the proper set-up, one can release the carbon and char a goodly number of steaks, chicken, brats, and fresh roasting ears of corn. With a ton of carbon credits you can . . . Can you get paper copies?
Did the professional Pardoners give paper “Papal indulgences” and, if so, are there any on display?
Further to John S’ comment:
John S says:
January 21, 2013 at 5:42 pm
And his inaugural speech today, President Obama chided climate deniers.
“We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. (Applause.) Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms. “
William:
The extreme AGW movement have convinced the thoughtless media that:
1) There is a magic green energy wand. If only the government could use the green energy wand, “green energy” will save the environment and create jobs for all. Scams of course only waste money. If “green energy” made economic and engineering sense it would be used now. Wind “farms” are a good example. The scam is ignoring the cost for battery storage, transporting the power from regions where there is sufficient wind to justify installing a wind farm, ignoring maintenance cost for the wind turbines, ignoring the energy costs to construct the wind farms, the energy transmission system, the battery storage, ignoring the need to ration power during long windless periods, and so on.
2) That spending billions upon billions on the green scams will create jobs rather than destroy jobs. Carbon trading is a good example. How many jobs does carbon trading create? What will happen if the cost of electricity and transportation fuel triples? What will happen if the US and Europe triple their cost of electricity and transportation fuel and China and India do not? Will the US and EU spend trillions of dollars to install the wind farm scam in Africa?
3) That although there will be less public money to spend due to the public money spent on subsidizing greens scams and every tax payer will have less money to spend due to a tripling of energy costs, that these extra costs will have no affect on the macro or micro economy.
4) If assumption 1 through 3 are incorrect the government can create funny money and spend their way out of the problem. If only Congress would do their job and spend more.
The above economic schemes has been tried over and over again by third world governments and by Greece. The path at the end of the scam scheme is complete economic collapse and an angry mob rioting outside the government offices.
Take a single real world example, say air travel. The extreme AGW movements carbon tax policy will double or triple the cost of air travel. (i.e. The objective of carbon tax is to return the atmosphere to 350 ppm or to hold at 400 ppm. The tax must be high enough to stop the activity.) The cost of a typically trans Atlantic flight with carbon tax set at AGW fanatic level would be $2000 to $3000 US return. Carbon dioxide emissions would be eliminate from air travel as most families will no longer be able to afford the costs.
Having the EU manipulate the market by withholding credits is “a no brainer” says Connie Hedegaard. http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/europe-looks-to-fix-problems-with-its-carbon-emissions-trading-system-a-863609.html
Given the reported heavy involvement already of the Mafia and other criminal groups, perhaps they should be tasked with “fixing” the problem??
As Brendan suggests (January 21, 2013 at 6:31 pm) we have less than intelligent leaders (PM, Gillard & Treasurer, Swan) down-under. Hopefully the majority of Australian voters are smart enough to vote them out this year.
Schadenfreude is so comforting. With the Australian Tax and eventually Trading Scheme linked to the EU one, we can only hope that this failure comes to Australia very soon now.