Carbon credits

[jim king]

I cannot figure out what this site is trying to accomplish but it sure makes the carbon credit business look shakey.  It must be another non profit organization as they have a click here to donate.

http://www.redd-monitor.org/

And if you really want to get dizzy read this one.

http://www.climate-standards.org/standards/pdf/ccb_standards_second_edition_december_2008.pdf

[jim king]

Here is a note I just got from the US Govt about the carbon credit business and where it stands in their minds.

It seems they are as confused as I am.  Now I know the same as when I started asking questions.

Jim,

We're going to work a lot on this starting this year.  It is very complicated, and I'm not totally sure where it's going.  It's an evolving landscape of public and private sector initiatives.  We're starting with an national-level assessment, then we are going to move into the regions, probably just assessing this year, and then maybe do something on the ground next year.  I'll keep you in the loop with how we go forward.



-----Original Message-----
From: james king [mailto:jameskingpe@yahoo.es]
Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2011 8:29 AM
To:xxxxxx
Subject: Iquitos


There is a guy in Iquitos trying to do a carbon credit deal.  He has lost several hundred thousand so far and is looking for help.  My group can put together what he needs but I dont want to get involved in a scandal of some type.

My question is if this whole carbon credit deal is a scam or if there is some basis to it ?  I know nothing about it and the more I read the less I understand.

He seems like a decent guy but I have seen a lot of decent guys involved in things they them selves did not know were a scam.

Jim

[WDH]

As of last year, the present value of an acre of carbon credit was about $400.  That is the present value of the cash flow for a 99 year carbon contract.  Who in their right mind would encumber their property for 99 years and be able to essentially do nothing with it except let the plants grow?

So far, the market is a not realistic in terms of equivalent land use value.  It is more of a sociological thing than an economical thing.  Mainly, bleeding hearts who don't own land want to own yours for a pittance so that they can feel better about their impact on the environment.

Nothing will happen with this until managing carbon emissions is the law of the land.  Until that happens, don't jump into a bad deal too soon.

[Clark]

I have a co-worker who has done some assessment of different properties for carbon credits.  What he has seen so far (in the States) is that the landowner is the only one getting burned.  As WDH said, until laws are firmly in place and some sort of funding for carbon credits is guaranteed, I'd stay away from it.

Clark

[SwampDonkey]

The whole idea of someone else profiteering off my land will kill it out right.

[SwampDonkey]

Found some little tidbits of info here from Atlantic Forestry Review, September 2011 issue.

The Carbon Market

The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is North America's only voluntary and legally binding greenhouse gas reduction and trading system for emission sources and offset projects, trading in carbon credits for several years. Unfortunately, inactivity in the US carbon market forced the CCX to halt trading in carbon credits at the end of 2010, when prices plummeted from a high of $7.50 US to between 5 an 10 cents US. However, CCX continues to trade in 5 other pollutant gases, including sulfur dioxide and several oxides of nitrogen, each subject to cap-and-trade regulation. The failure of CO₂ trading suggests that in the absence of cap-and-trade or binding regulatory arrangement, a carbon-offset market is doomed to fail. Meanwhile several states and provinces have joined forces to lobby for cap-and-trade regulation, since CO₂ cap-and-trade was defeated in the US senate in 2009. It was deemed too costly for business. This lobby group is called the Western Climate Initiative.

Don't shoot the messenger. ;D

[Bandmill Bandit]

If you do some digging and asking of the right people you will find that most governments have quietly left the room with out closing the door for fear they would cause others at the table to become alarmed. Some have "allowed" a carbon market of sorts to "evolve" but it is local and disjointed at best.

For now it is probably good to treat it as a spectator sport. And not even a very good one at that.

[SwampDonkey]

As far as I'm concerned it's all pipe dreams. Somebody looking for another way to make money shuffling paperwork.  :-\

[WDH]

A mandatory cap and trade will really hurt businesses.  It is another form of tax. 

[Kansas]

I still think of the company that got blue stain pine chips from Colorado and Wyoming, shipped them back to Western Kansas, made pellets out of them, and shipped them to Europe so they could have carbon credits over there. Apparently someone takes it serious. Although in my mind, I can't imagine how doing all that wouldn't create more carbon than it saved, just from transportation. Oh well. Just look at them as a customer, make money, and go on.

[Jasperfield]

Buying carbon credits is equivalent to paying the taylors for the emporer's new clothes.