Carbon trading in the real world

There has been some talk of beginning a national carbon trading, "cap=-and'trade" system in the U.S. Are we sure we want efforts to stop air pollution to be tied to the same uncontrolled market forces that created our current financial mess? That give the U.S.the most expensive health care system on earth? That brought us Lehman Brothers, AIG and Enron? $4 gasoline and $2 gasoline within a six month span? Right now the price of those carobn permits are plummeting in Europe. Why? pollluters need the cash to help their receeding bottom lines because of the recession. So they're cashing in. The flip side would be: in times of easy money and high sales, polluters would just pay up and keep on pumping out the CO2 or methane. The bottom line will always be the bottom line. [poll id="89"]