CDM, Emissions Trading , Douglas Goodyear

Emissions Trading (ET)
or Carbon equivalents
or CDM Clean Development Mechanism
(why does 'Clean' make me uneasy, feel like I'm being conned?)

Some developments that make ET seem to smell bad:

Radio NZ 'Nights' had Mark Gregory on the air: 11June08 8:15pm MG is from BBC One Planet
radionz
bbc the podcast

MG gave several examples:

One was CFC-23 incineration in India. This stuff is a by-product of refrigeration coolant. Heaps of Indians now can afford fridges. It is said that CFC-23 is 12,000 times worse than CO₂ (!!).
The CDM provides for rich 'North' countries who are already 'efficient' to send money to poor 'South' countries where the same money will produce more Carbon equivalent savings. I think the figure I heard was $6Billion. I guess thats from NEurope to India| China, as USAus havnt ratified Kyoto (check this?)
The entire idea rests on "Additionality" - its of benefit only if the recipient wasnt going to do it anyway. Turns out that the CFC-23 would have been incinerated anyway, at 1/600th the cost of the CDM credits. Those credits may amount to $500,000 over 10 years, so its big , if it is a waste.

CDM described as a "Dangerous diversion" and a futile attempt to "Buy our way out" of ClimateChaos

Another example given was Hydro dams financed by World Bank loans before Carbon Credits had been considered. The loan was in, so no 'additionality'
'Additionality' is a Story, often impossible to prove.

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My Unease about Emissions Trading is increasing

In New Zealand ET has been delayed on Agriculture. Meaning methane eructations of herbivores (Cow burps chiefly)
Because NZ has 70%Hydro generation of electricity in a good year, Cow burps are a major portion of emissions.
Because of ET delays, in 2004 NZ went into a "major deforestation." (Yes thats DE)
- This is contentious - its from a radio talk by Nick Smith, the opposition National Party carbon spokesman.
NS says:
deforestation began in 2004, has got worse since, Carbon Credits "a complete mess": None in 2004, then Planting credits in 2008, but Harvesting penalties are a worry. NS says a "Complete Collapse of Planting", Lowest ever...
1/3 of deforested areas not replanted ( 13,000 ha converted to other uses..)

The trees were cleared for Dairy Farms. It seems that the tiny percentage of nouveau middle class in India | China amounts to a huge boost to Dairy prices. When you get that car with air-con, you just gotta have a Cheese-Burger to go.

This "Land Use Change" is not penalised., despite the switch from trees to Methane.

The Govt Forestry Minister Jim Anderton then spoke, but didnt clear the confusion. Jim said that 80% of NZ forests are 'harvested Exotics' (pinus radiate, eucalypts) - which is in itself a scary percentage.
He seemed to imply that these are being replanted as cut.

The clearing for Dairy farms comes from the 'remainder' - This seems to state that Native Forest is being cleared, I hope Jim meant something else. The phrase "5 years of deforestation" was used (not by Jim?)

Forest & Bird Kevin Hackwell said a Carbon Tax would have solved this problem, and that Dairy has massive subsidies in the form of their Methane and polluted waterways not being sheeted home.

John Stulen(?) said that the forest clearings were being done in large part by the Govt Land Corp (was it really him that said that?)

With Audio only, no transcripts, the debaTEs are becoming ephemeral, hard to grab the stats...
radionz deforestation_debate
radionz 2007_worst_for_deforestation_in_nz
forestry_decline_continues radionz


The official NZ forestry site seems to say that tree planting has fallen way down, but not actually into net negative (They may be talking about exotics only, its all rather confusing) What is clear is that Carbon Equivalents are zooming skywards.

Also, with SouthEastern Droughts, the Hydro lakes are low, and NZ is firing up oil and gas thermal . That 70% must be down. ClimateChaos predicts the East will get drier, so hydro may go. (NB in NZ we say "power stations" not "power plants")

New Zealanders have a sentimental attachment to their hills, so decade long delays in Wind Turbine construction have resulted from aesthetic whingers.

Meanwhile, The Taranaki offshore oil field estimate has zoomed from 30Mbbls to 47Mbbls (About half a day's world supply)
This oil is exported immediately , with less than 50% of the revenue going to NZ, so its a half-joy. And now the wellheads are burning off large amounts of methane, because the Govt never insisted on a gas pipeline to shore.

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The whole Emissions Trading" thing is a monster.
Direct Regulation or Taxation would be a far finer mechanism.
ET is an attempt to create a Market
The real Market, that wonderful unchained beast that rules us all. Can it be imitated by a mere creation?
Artificial Market sounds like a machine to transfer huge amounts from the gullible to the glib.

I agree that a few Billion transferred from North to South isnt such a bad thing, but sending it to a few arbitrary industries is a trick. we are being sidetracked from the task of halting ClimateChaos. German Power stations are permitted to continue to pollute, albeit in global best practice manner. Ho Hum, maybe that'll have to do.

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Douglas Goodyear, who had been chosen to run the 2008 Republican convention, said he was resigning ... ... DCI Group, a lobbying firm, represented Burma until last year. Mr Goodyear, its chief executive, "was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta,
..
The McCain campaign links between DCI and Burma and the Republicans were first reported in Harper's magazine some months ago, but it became a toxic issue after the Burmese government mishandled relief efforts

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Obama the mild Black man
We are being primed to accept.
No Slavery chip on his shoulder.
"Change', without specifying what change, prepares us for minor tinkering around the skirts of Capital

Now Obama has told (Aipac) Jerusalem "will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided".
...
[Israel has occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem since the 1967 war, a move considered illegal under international law.
Jerusalem's status as part of Israel is also not internationally recognised - AlJazeera]

My feeling about Obama is that "Change" is a content-less phrase - 'Change' could mean anything from More War to a Caliphate.
I felt the same way about the NZ "Values" party in the 1970s - which was actually the first 'Green' party but the title could mean anything. Or that a certain leftish group expected Equal Rights and Justice? or Sustainability against Free Market Capital? - If you dont specify, expect very little substance

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CDM, Emissions Trading , Douglas Goodyear