Carbon Hunters in the Brazilian Amazon

"A middleman will sell it to a mill for $1,000," one agent says about the price of one tree. In other words, a tree worth $1 on the carbon market could be worth a thousand times that to an illegal sawmill. Reversing these economics, the UN estimates, will take an immediate global investment of $25 billion. But who will pay for it? And to whom?"

Follow this link to watch a 20-minute documentary about the new carbon market and how it affects the Amazon and its people. It's a truly fascinating look at how the new and old carbon economies intersect, and may change the way you think about carbon offsets based on land conservation.

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A refreshing dose of honesty

A junior senator from Washington state, Maria Cantwell, is is pushing a simpler, more voter-friendly version of cap-and-trade, called “cap-and-dividend.”

Although, like in cap-and-trade, carbon credits are auctioned off and traded, which results in an increase in cost for products made with energy (which is to say, just about everything), under this interesting twist on the old idea, American taxpayers are issued payments from the government as compensation. To quote this article in the Economist, which calls the idea “honest” for its transparency and simplicity (the bill is a mere 40 pages long), “To discourage the use of dirty energy, [the bill] says, it has to be more expensive. To make up for that, here’s a thousand bucks.” This way there is an inherent consumer-driven incentive to purchase less energy-intensive goods, which would translate to an incentive to produce them on the industrial scale. Here is a link to Senator Cantwell's page in which The Carbon Limits and Energy for America's Renewal (CLEAR) Act is introduced.

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'As the World Burns': The Politics Of Climate Change

Check out this 20-minute discussion on NPR's `Fresh Air' with journalist Jeff Goodell, as he discusses his article for Rolling Stone, "As the World Burns: How Big Oil and Big Coal mounted one of the most aggressive lobbying campaigns in history to block progress on global warming"

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Candidate Forum 2010

Citizens for a Greener Evanston asked candidates for the 18th legislative district of the Illinois House of Representatives (election to be held next Tuesday, February 2nd) to respond to the following three energy- and sustainability-related questions:


1. What bills are currently pending in the state legislature that would support significant improvements in energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings and would increase the production of renewable energy in Illinois in a major way?

2. How would you as state representative work to provide assistance to Evanston in its efforts to make significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in our community?

3. Indicate how your past work as advocates for various programs bears on the goal of achieving sustainability in Evanston.

Follow the title link of this post to read their responses.

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Letting Nature levy taxes

This interesting idea ties the rate of carbon taxation to the temperature of the troposphere: if the Earth continues warming, the tax increases.

If global warming is not really happening, and the warming trend proves to be a temporary fluctuation unrelated to man-made carbon emissions, then the tax would decrease or disappear. This approach has appeal in that the tax is self-correcting, but there are some reasons to proceed with caution as well, not the least of which is the politicization of scientific research. Another benefit I can imagine is that we would find out rather quickly "what the market believes" is really happening, as investments should favor either companies that are planning for a low-carbon future, or companies that are betting on a fossil-based model.

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Much Ado About Carbon Offsets

Not sure what to think about carbon offsets? Check out what five expert panelists have to say on the topic in this week's Catalyst debate available at SEED magazine.

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