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First Carbon Auction in U.S. Hailed as Big Success

redgreenandblue.org — According to reports, the first ever carbon auction of greenhouse gases in the United States exceeded all expectations. All, except for the expectation that a ton of carbon would fetch $4.

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msaleem 53 days ago

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20 Comments
Who Dugg It?

samotage, on 09/30/2008, -0/+11$3.07 a tonne! A bargain, get 'em while they're cheap...
doiveo, on 09/30/2008, -0/+15Good to finally see a price put on air quality. Perhaps now companies will factor it directly into their business modules. It has been "free" for far too long.
- SnarleyJoe, on 10/01/2008, -1/+3Although I agree, it is worth noting this is for power companies only (at least for now). If they have to pay to release carbon, they will just hike the price they charge the customer to recover it.
  
  Net effect on company's profits - zero.
  Net effect on customer's (ie you) pockets - loss: you effectively pay for the carbon allowances.
  
  Also worth noting that this auction was for the rights to release almost 13 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. 13 million tonnes! And there is only what, ten states participating so far? And only six of them have actually approved the capping of emmissions through legislature. So what of the other four? Is it only voluntary?
  
  Truth is, although it is a step in the right direction, it is way too small and way too slow.
  - DadLearner, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1Agreed!
  - doiveo, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1We must crawl before we walk.
  - doiveo, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1Initially, I agree with you, the cost will be passed on. Eventually, the market will use the cost to its advantage. Just as the cost of oil is passed on in the cost of gas which is passed on in the price of taxis. When all the taxi companies still drove Caprices the cost was large. Most in my area have switched to hybrids and were able to undercut or out perform the larger cars. The same 10 states probably released 13 million tonnes last year - for free. The money raised this year is a crawl in the right direction. Be sure to encourage the states to walk next.
  - brb1031, on 10/01/2008, -1/+1SnarleyJoe:
    It is a common misconception that when costs go up, a business will raise prices by the same amount.
    
    They don't, because they want to maximize PROFIT, not fix PROFIT MARGIN. If they fix their profit margin, they will dig too deep along the demand curve, and diminish their volume by an amount which makes for a suboptimal total profit.
    
    Same as a cost decrease, but in reverse(pretty picture):
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Supply-demand-r ...
jerryjamesstone, on 10/01/2008, -0/+3$3.07 a tonne, that is impressive!
davidryal, on 10/01/2008, -1/+4is a tonne like a ton?
- tbhurst, on 10/01/2008, -3/+3Yes, but it is more French.
  - niccha, on 10/01/2008, -0/+2Is that "more French" as in french fries, or "more French" as in foix de gras?
  - Sogladtobehere, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1More English actually.
- jmpeagle, on 10/01/2008, -0/+7no, a ton is 2000 lbs but a tonne/metric ton or 1000 kg, which is approximately 2205 lbs
  
  a tonne is approximately therefore 10% more than a ton
h0ser, on 10/01/2008, -11/+6i'm so sick of the world buying and trading things that don't even exist. The world is so screwed up. Imagine buying this $4 tonne of carbon and then actually demanding the tonne of carbon in real life. You could sue the person that sold it to you for not having it readily available. Such a scam.
- infinitexx, on 10/01/2008, -0/+6Hmm, I would say you should read the article, but I would think it readily obvious that they aren't selling a ton of carbon even without reading. These are carbon permits, for those who want to offset environmental damage.
  - gandhii, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1That's the bloody point you dope! They aren't selling squat! It is just a scam. I can't believe you think it will actually result in anything different other than just a new tax. It is too hard to enforce.
  - infinitexx, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1How exactly is it too hard to enforce? We already have emissions standards on businesses, how hard would it be to add extra criteria? You dope, have fun pissing on the environment.
    And all of this is supposed to serve as a model for larger governmental organization.
  - h0ser, on 10/01/2008, -0/+1you missed my point completely man. The carbon isn't there until you release it into the atmosphere through industrial pollution etc. So you're buying something that isn't there that you'll be creating yourself. So therefor you're buying nothing, but people can still trade it and MAKE MONEY from trading it.
- Sogladtobehere, on 10/01/2008, -1/+1Ask your science teacher to explain it to you.
Ninh, on 10/01/2008, -3/+4The next snake oil bubble is shaping up.
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First Carbon Auction in U.S. Hailed as Big Success

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