WP: Warming Trend Is Hatching a Business

[DeepModem Mom]

Warming Trend Is Hatching a Business
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 28, 2006; Page D01


California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the Global Warming Solutions Act in San Francisco, capping greenhouse gas emissions. (By Ben Margot -- Associated Press)

U.S. governors, impatient with federal inaction on global warming, are taking matters into their own hands. The result could add impetus to an emerging industry.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) yesterday signed legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions. And seven Northeastern states, which together emit as much greenhouse gas as Germany, have banded together to set rules that would cut their emissions by 10 percent by 2019. Other states may join them....(T)he state leaders are modeling their efforts on the European Union, which has turned limits on greenhouse gas emissions into a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry.

Companies are already scrambling to take advantage of the E.U. system, which is an outgrowth of the global environmental accord known as the Kyoto Protocol. Arlington-based AES Corp. has dispatched teams to negotiate with Asian palm oil plantations over installing equipment to suck methane -- one of the most potent of a half-dozen greenhouse gases -- out of waste lagoons. The electric power company wants to convert it into energy and less harmful gases. In return, the firm would get credits it could use or sell in Europe.

The European system sets a cap for the continent's emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. Every company producing significant amounts of greenhouse gases is issued a designated number of "allowances." If power plants and factories spew out more than their quotas, they have to buy allowances from firms that spew less than their allotments. Polluting companies can also buy credits from firms that are cutting emissions in the developing world.

The result: Gases that were once worthless now have a commercial value every bit as solid as coal, pork bellies or Treasury bills -- only with this commodity, companies are paid for what they do not deliver. According to Point Carbon, a research firm, $12.6 billion of greenhouse gas emission rights, called European Union Allowances, were traded in the first half of this year. The value of all existing allowances exceeds $70 billion....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092701974.html

[orwell]

1. Gotta hand it to Ahnold...

...even if it is an election year stunt, it is a good one.

We should have an election in "Cahlifohnia" every year...