I do believe that Brussels, having the the power to controll the distribution of credits throught the NAP, whilst not influencing the direct trade in credits, has enormous influence over the market.

I would not be the least bit surprised if, over the next twelve months, a directive is not given that removes a huge amount of the over allocated existing paper.

Atman, your description of the UN as organisation "populated by a coalition of self serving bureaucrats and green activists who have formed a toxic but influential mix" is frighteningly accurate.

579 is correct when he observes that "pollutants are a world problem", it is just that co2 is not a pollutant, rather, an airborne plant fertilizer.

Cohenite, I have been following the 'AB 32' legislation wrangle, but not sure where it is up to at this stage.

Another informative and interesting post Anthony.

Prompete, this is the latest on the AB 32, California's ETS legislation:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/justingerdes/2012/05/31/california-lawmakers-approve-cap-and-trade-revenue-bill/

Given that the litigation was initiated by Green groups who did not think the Californian ETS went far enough to reducing CO2 emissions, one could only guess as to what they make of legislation which enables carbon credit accumulation on the basis of this criteria:

"AB 1352 designates five broad categories as permissible expenditures for auction revenue: renewable energy and energy efficiency; low-carbon transportation and infrastructure; natural resource protection; research and development; and empowering local leadership climate change planning and implementation."

"Local leadership"?!

No wonder California is the economic dregs of the US.

cohenite:"No wonder California is the economic dregs of the US."

Economic dregs? Seriously? California by itself has the eighth largest economy in the world. It's the largest state economy in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_California

I've heard some pretty impressive butt crack whistlin' in my time, and this piece of fluff is about the fifth worst.

You know, there was a time when I believed that people like Bugsy & Co were men of science who had a genuine belief in AGW ...But that was when I was still a green horn to OLO.


<<California by itself has the eighth largest economy in the world. It's the largest state economy in the US>>

Ergo, it can’t be in the financial doldrums!

Seriously, Bugsy?

Well if I can drag you away from Wikipedia for a moment , you might like to have a geeza at some other sources.

“California is on the verge of an economic meltdown. The state, with the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation, is being hammered by the deep recession, rising unemployment and a growing multi-billion dollar budget deficit”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31923599/

“(Reuters) - California's budget deficit will swell to nearly $7 billion greater than expected due to weak tax revenues and slow progress in cutting spending, Governor Jerry Brown said on Saturday.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/13/us-california-deficit-idUSBRE84C00D20120513

The ETS is just another derivative conjured up by the financial system to rort us the consumer.It has nothing to do with moderating climate.

If CO2 is such problem why do not our Govts tax the oil and coal as it comes out of the ground or at the refinery stage? Answer, because then the large Corps will pay and their share prices/profits will fall.Fuel is pretty in-elastic and demand will not fall much.

They can pass some of this cost onto the consumer but with a tax on the end user ( CO2 tax) or an ETS we get to pay for it all. Can people be that stupid as not see through this scam?