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:
So they are quite happy to raise taxes and waste our money on the scam but none of them are putting their own money in. That says all that needs to be said.
If only Congress would get moving and follow the EU off of the green energy scam cliff and introduce cap and trade. The EU Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is a very good example of what to expect from cap and trade. (i.e. No significant improvement to the environment, billions of dollars sent to over sea scams, and the average home owner paying higher prices for power to pay for the scam.)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/7969102/The-Clean-Development-Mechanism-delivers-the-greatest-green-scam-of-all.html
The Clean Development Mechanism delivers the greatest green scam of all
…The CDM system itself, however, will still be in place, and we will all contribute through its chief source of revenue, the EU’s $100-billion-a-year Emissions Trade Scheme (which we pay for in various ways, not least through our electricity bills). We here in Britain also have the special privilege of knowing, as I reported in February, that we are now chipping in £60 million to buy additional CDM credits through our taxes – so that the politicians and civil servants in government offices can keep warm by continuing to pump out emissions much as before. …
…The essence of the scam is that a handful of Chinese and Indian firms are deliberately producing large quantities of an incredibly powerful “greenhouse gas” which we in the West – including UK taxpayers – then pay them billions of dollars to destroy…
…The key to this scam, designed to curb global warming, is a scheme known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), set up under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and administered by the UN. It enables firms and governments in the developed world to buy “credits” which allow them to continue emitting greenhouse gases. These are sold to them, through well-rewarded brokers, from firms in developing countries that can show they have nominally reduced their emissions.
Last year, destruction of CFCs accounted for more than half the CDM credits issued, in a market that will eventually, it is estimated, be worth $17 billion. Of the 1,390 CDM projects so far approved, less than 1 per cent accounts for 36 per cent of the total value.
Even greenies have become so outraged by this ridiculous racket that the Environmental Investigation Agency has described it as the “biggest environment scandal in history”. Two weeks ago the UN announced that it is suspending payments to five Chinese firms pending an investigation, with a view to a major reform of the system. Last week the EU’c climate change supremo, Connie Hedegaard, said she would be asking her officials to prepare a proposal whereby these particular CFC payments
The following are some of the drivers for the green scams.
Timothy Wirth, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Issues, seconded Strong’s statement: “We have got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing in terms of economic policy and environmental policy.”
“No matter if the science of global warming is all phony … climate change provides the greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world.” – Christine Stewart, former Canadian Minister of the Environment
“The models are convenient fictions that provide something very useful.”Dr David Frame, Climate modeler, Oxford University
“It doesn’t matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true.” – Paul Watson, Co-founder of Greenpeace”
“Unless we announce disasters no one will listen.” – Sir John Houghton, First chairman of the IPCC
“The data doesn’t matter. We’re not basing our recommendations on the data. We’re basing them on the climate models.” Prof. Chris Folland, Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research
Maurice Strong, senior advisor to Kofi Annan, U.N. Secretary-General who chaired the gigantic (40,000 participants) “U.N. Conference on Environment and Development” in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 , who was responsible for putting together the Kyoto Protocol with thousands of bureaucrats, diplomats, and politicians, stated: “We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrial civilization to collapse…isn’t it our job to bring that about”
“ntesdorf says:
January 21, 2013 at 7:28 pm”
Before any linking to other systems, the Australian “carbon price” (@ur momisugly AU$23/tonne CO2 to rise to AU$25.15 this year. 10% of the revenue raise already goes to the UN) was to first morph in to an ETS in 2015 and then link to the New Zealand ETS. Given the fact NZ has wound back it’s implementaion of an ETS and has given the finger to Kyoto 2, I don’t see the AU carbon price to survive the end of 2013/2014. Well, here’s hoping!
Get ’em while they’re hot!
http://www.freecarbonoffsets.com/genCert.do
A friend in Germany just rubbed my nose in this (luckily I was able to find an English version for this blog):
http://www.umweltdaten.de/publikationen/weitere_infos/3997-0.pdf
It seems that Germany is planning to switch completely to renewable energy by 2050. In typical German fashion, they have it all planned out and very carefully calculated. This includes the need to store energy because of the wide fluctuations of solar and wind energy, gradual aging of current power plants, and, and, and. They think this is not only doable but will actually save them money in the long run.
And, by the way, I just read that pollution cap and trade was originally an American idea, and worked very well for control of sulfur emissions. Imitation being the highest form of flattery….
Its actually worse than the Europeans admit:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1301/S00316/profit-rich-foresters-might-quit-ets.htm
The NZ carbon price has dropped from NZ$18-24 per tonne to $2.50.
In part thats because we are buying up European credits for $0.40 per tonne!
JC
it is not unprecedented. When Russia was wavering on ratifying the Kyoto Protocol ( they had lost interest because the EU was not interested on buying the hot air credits from Russia but EU was playing hard on Russian entry into WTO) a ton of carbon credits went down a low of $3 per ton. The Kyoto Protocol would not have come into force if Russia did not ratify it after the US will not ratify it. Anyway with Obama on his second and final term, the US may just jump into the extended Kyoto Protocol especially with Al Gore’s lingering influence in the party. Too early to print the obituary of the ETS
Gunga Din says:
January 21, 2013 at 6:35 pm
I predict California will someday outlaw lawn sprinkling and swimming pools because of that nasty GHG H2O–and this in full view of the Pacific.
Upwind, no less.
Love the Briquets.
Praise be to the Russian hackers in Siberia for blowing the whistle with the Climategate Emails. I worked 18 months on defeating Cap and Trade legislation and I couldn’t have done it without the Russian hackers, the Sun going into a sleepy phase solar minimum, and the indispensable help of WUWT.
The Australians really seem to be getting salt rubbed into this particular wound.
Hectored and lectured at home by carbon-taxes (as well as the-website-that-cannot-be-named), a report by the World Resources Institute states:
http://www.wri.org/publication/global-coal-risk-assessment
So coal is good enough for the Pacific-market, but not Australians?
A government that can square that circle is, IMO, morally and ethically bankrupt.
As soon as Obama mentioned climate change, the Thomson Reuters controlled Globe & Mail hit its “exultate jubilate” moment:
– Obama’s vow on climate change signals bumpy road for Keystone
– Dramatic temperature increases could threaten Canadian health, infrastructure: Canadian infrastructure was not built for extreme cold and extreme heat… LOL Only zealots ignorant of Canadian climate over the life of Canada could come up with such bull.
Globemedia has been teaming up with Tides sponsored off springs and will take Obama’s message to heart, even if it means wishing bad economic news to their own country.
http://www.nature.com/news/china-has-the-capacity-to-lead-in-carbon-trading-1.12212
http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/chinas-carbon-trading-debut-defies-doubters-20121012-27hti.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-12/china-carbon-debut-defies-emission-doubters-energy-markets.html
http://theconversation.edu.au/carbon-trading-in-the-asian-century-chinas-ets-on-track-11438
If at first you don”t succeed….
Well we all know how Obama and The Fools will take this.
Make more rules! (And cut the leeches that support them in on the ground floor)
When I think of “carbon trading” I am reminded of the “South Sea Bubble” and the “Darian Adventure” which bankrupted Scotland (they’d gambled the entire Treasury), the more recent “Junk Bonds” trading in the 1980s … the list of economic and fiscal follies is endless. The guilty will not be penalised, they will steal whatever remains of the “Treasury” and run, leaving those who have been robbed, broke and unable to pursue them.
History provides any number of examples for those who study it.
murdoch’s Sky News Australia never misses a chance to push the CAGW line, no matter how simplistic or ridiculous the claims being made. after all, Aussies are presently stuck with the most expensive carbon trading price in the world:
22 Jan: Sky News: People should accept climate science: PM
The prime minister has travelled around the country during the extreme weather and bushfires over the past couple of weeks but says one weather event alone can’t be put down to climate change.
‘But you can accept the science that the scientists are telling us … very clearly that climate change means more extreme weather events,’ she told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
‘I’m not a scientist but from a lay person’s point of view, it’s a pretty startling day when the weather bureau says it has had to pick a new colour for their maps because they don’t have a colour that tells us about a land temperature of 50 and above.’
She said scientists don’t just look at one weather event but a broad sweep, and just like people accept the science that says smoking and lung cancer are related, they should accept carbon pollution is making a difference to the climate.
http://www.skynews.com.au/eco/article.aspx?id=837964
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australia’s opposition is as ridiculous as the present govt even when criticising CO2 pricing and trading:
22 Jan: Australian: AAP: Abbott points to US inaction on climate
FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pointed to the Obama administration’s inaction on carbon pricing after the US president said more must be done to address climate change…
“The interesting thing is that President Obama’s administration has three times, in the last few months, explicitly ruled out a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme,” he said.
“Now, all of us are concerned about climate change. All of us want to do the right thing by our planet. We all want to give the planet the benefit of the doubt.
“But we’ve got to have smart policies, not dumb policies, to do that.”…
“I certainly accept that climate change is real, that mankind is making a contribution,” he said.
But he echoed recent comments by Queensland Premier Campbell Newman that severe weather events have been happening for a long period.
“Campbell’s absolutely right – we’ve had floods before, we’ve had droughts before, we’ve had cyclones before, we’ve had fires before, we’ve had very hot days before, very cold days before,” he said.
“… almost from the beginning of records being kept in this country, we’ve had very severe heat waves, and from very early on in the time of European settlement we’ve had devastating bushfires.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/abbott-points-to-us-inaction-on-climate/story-fn3dxiwe-1226559148469
this from a man known worldwide as a CAGW sceptic who once said CAGW was “crap”! you would never know the CAGW scam is unravelling at a fast pace.
John S quotes Pres. Obama as
‘
. “
Seems a good time to remind ourselves of Feynman’s wise words
’
and even less that there exists a ‘judgement of science’.
‘Judging’ is a human characteristic, not a scientific one.
We must condemn the naysayers who said that stomach ulcers are caused mainly by the bacterium helicobacter pylori, we must condemn believers in impossible quasicrystals, we must isolate those who say c02 is a bit player in global warming.
Just give it time.
John of Cloverdale, WA, Australia says:
January 21, 2013 at 7:16 pm
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.
———–
This will be a test above all else of your people’s smarts.
We in the US failed our test in November 2012.
cn
From USA President ““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. “
Recalls a sketch from the Two Ronnies on UK TV years ago.
“My company can sell you fire insurance”
“Fine”
“We can sell you theft insurance”
“Fine”
We can sell you flood insurance”
‘”Errr How do you start a flood?”
Nature knows Man is puny, even a President. So do comedians.
Traded at a new low of 4.88 Euros this morning (Jan 22).
S. Meyer says:
January 21, 2013 at 8:53 pm
“It seems that Germany is planning to switch completely to renewable energy by 2050. In typical German fashion, they have it all planned out and very carefully calculated. ”
We also had WWII carefully planned out.
The basic problem with CO2 Indulgences is that anyone can simply stop. Where is the “worth” in them? It is entirely a “cost” item to the company that must buy them. So it has a choice. Pay that tax (as that is functionally what it is) here as part of ‘doing business’, or stop. Do business somewhere else, or simply do not do business.
As any added costs reduce some marginal business from profit to loss, by design the demand must decrease. The higher the price, the lower the sales.
What we are learning is the equilibrium price at which it is not ‘worth it’ to stay home and drink beer. For most folks, it doesn’t take much to convince them to stay home…
So, one small example, I now bake my own bread. Didn’t particularly set out to do it, but one day got pissed at $4 a loaf. I now make it at home for somewhere between 25 cents and $0.5 a loaf.
No “carbon credits” needed. (No labor dues either. Hostess just went bankrupt, btw, partly due to costs from labor unions)..
Now, in California ( I really wish I could ‘gloat’ over the EU et. al. demise, but it is hard to do when my State is rushing headlong into the same meat grinder… but at least it is leading with its least sensitive part… and least used…) as electricity goes ballistic, I’ve already figured out it’s cheaper to use gasoline or propane. On my shopping list is a “camping oven” to use instead of my All Electric Kitchen oven…
Sometime this summer, I’m planning to make a “beehive oven” in the backyard like used on the local Spanish Missions in centuries past. I have bamboo growing in my yard faster than I can compost it. While local laws forbid ‘yard burning’, it’s fine to cook on a BBQ… So “win win” – I’ll feed the Bamboo to the oven…
At that point, my cost of bread drops about 10 cents more per loaf. No energy bill.
Hey, I’ll even be “carbon neutral” (even if spitting out smoke and experiencing that 1780’s era level of technology…) OTOH, I’m starting to ferment beer and wine too. Same as they did.
So what happens to “carbon quatloos” when I’m sitting in my yard with beer and bread and no need of such? Oh, and no tax either…
The basic problem forces things this way. Maybe that is the goal of the Greens (everyone back to cave man tech) but I think the government money launderers and business manipulators expected a cut…
Oh, and not driving to the store to buy bread and beer cuts down on gas taxes and sales taxes too…
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/bread-potato-flour-millet-amaranth/
Even cheaper to heat the home with camping lantern. Get free light too… (as heat caries the cost) Not sure it is what “they” wanted, but “reality just is. -E.M.Smith” )
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/coleman-lantern-heat-cheaper/
So folks, singly, collectively, or by ‘substitution’ (of cheaper product or foreign made) can just stop playing the carbon quatloo game and the price collapses, as there is no reality in them and nobody must play.
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Quatloo
Hmm. Think the headline from UBS reads better without the qualifier: try just “EU Carbon Permits ‘worthless’ UBS says”.
There, that’s better.