In recent weeks, thieves have stolen at least $40 million worth of European Union carbon credit certificates.

As with anything labeled “eco-friendly,” we encourage the informed, thoughtful purchase of carbon credits. In fact, we’ve devoted a number of articles to the subject, including carbon credit criticisms, to which another should be added to the list – susceptibility to black market forces.

As reported by Treehugger, in recent weeks thieves have infiltrated a number of carbon registries in the European Union, stealing at least $40 million worth of carbon credit certificates. If unrecovered and sold through the black market, thousands of people may be duped into buying these illegally-obtained certificates.

In response, the European Union shut down the market, but yesterday asked the registries to reopen – no big surprise as the EU carbon market is a lucrative one and, in fact, the largest carbon market in the world.

To protect yourself against carbon credit fraud in all its forms, purchase your certificates as follows….

When buying carbon offsets, choose companies that adhere to the strictest standards, including third-party 1) certification, 2) verification and 3) auditing of projects that are:

• Real – offsets that have already occurred.
• Additional – offsets that would not have occurred without the offset project.
• Permanent – lasting or guaranteed to be replaced should losses occur.
• Verifiable – offsets that can be quantified, monitored and verified.

Avoid any company that judges its offsets on the “performance standard”. Instead of limiting projects to those that would not be possible without the carbon market, the performance standard counts as offsets any reduction of energy that is below a certain benchmark. Yes, the project may be one that is environmentally-friendly, but it is one that would have happened anyway, regardless of carbon market support.

For more info, see our comprehensive collection of carbon credit articles.

Meredith Simonds Carbon Credits carbon credits

If the feds can't pass cap-and-trade legislation (which they clearly cannot), the states aren't afraid to pick up the slack.

For a new series of green articles we’re publishing, I’ve spent the past two weeks digging up all the information I can about carbon credits (more to come). In the process, I’ve been reminded of just how widespread and accepted the cap-and-trade system is (e.g., the Kyoto Protocol) - the same system President Obama said this week is dead for at least two years in light of the election results, as control of Congress is now split.

Of course, as pointed out in a scathing piece of President Obama by Grist’s Joseph Romm, cap-and-trade would be dead-in-the-water even if the President had the most ideal of circumstances. Oh, that’s right, he did. For two years, Democrats had control of both the House and the Senate. And under the leadership of a Democratic President “pushing” for cap-and-trade, they still couldn’t get anything done.

But as someone who believes everything happens for a reason, I’m struck by what one commenter had to say in response to Romm’s article:

“Maybe the silver lining on this situation is that we won’t be stampeded into a cumbersome, inefficient and ill-conceived regulatory regime for no other reason than that it is ‘the only game in town.’

“The political pendulum will swing as the realities of climate change and resource depletion become all too apparent. When it does, then maybe we will see some real political leadership on climate policy, but I don’t think it will come from either the Democrats or the Republicans — it will come from the Europeans and Chinese.”

Agreed on dodging a watered-down climate bill bullet, but let’s not write off Democrats or Republicans just yet. Look what California just did under the leadership of a Republican Governor, voting to move forward with the state’s global warming cap-and-trade bill. And they are Democrats and Republicans running the U.S. states who are members of the carbon regulated Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which includes 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

The problem is Washington. And if the feds can’t get it done, clearly the states will find a way. I am comforted by that, and frankly might prefer it. 

Meredith Simonds Carbon Credits California, cap-and-trade, carbon credits, Climate change, climate science, Democrats, Grist, President Obama, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Republicans

Bill Gates and Senator Lindsey Graham share thoughts on how we are going to get our hands on economically viable alternative energy technologies - carbon pricing.

In consideration of what’s happening with the Gulf oil spill, it seems everyone is singing the praises of more agressively exploring alternative fuels, even President Obama and former President George W. Bush! Realistically though, Bill Gates – one of alternative fuels’ biggest supporters before the spill – says we’re decades away from technology advanced enough to completely replace fossil fuels.

Bill Gates is a major investor in TerraPower, a company creating the technology for turning nuclear waste into clean energy. It’s still in the research and development stage though, and critics wonder if it will ever be economically viable.

Gates too recognizes the challenge of economic viability, not only regarding his own nuclear energy embitions, but renewable energy as well. He says what we need to see is a bigger investment of capital behind renewable energy research. So where does the richest man in America suggest the money should come from? Putting a price on carbon.

Senator Lindsey Graham echoes Gates’ ideas regarding carbon pricing:

“We do need to price carbon to make nuclear power and wind and solar and some alternative technologies economically viable. On the transportation side, maybe you can reduce emissions without a cap. I don’t know. But you need to put a price on carbon in the power production area at a minimum to jump-start these other technologies.”

Graham is one of three senators originally behind the much-anticipated, hotly debated climate change bill. Of course, Graham is also the senator who infamously pulled his support of that bill because it wasn’t getting the priority he wanted to see from Congress. 

In fact, Graham is proposing a new energy bill – one that is restricted to an electric utility industry tax – and one he believes has a realistic chance of getting all the 60 votes required to pass. That said, the President’s support is reportedly still behind the original Kerry-Lieberman-Graham legislation.

Meredith Simonds Carbon Credits Bill Gates, carbon pricing, climate bill, fossil fuels, Oil, Senator Lindsey Graham, TerraPower