Buying off the big polluters looks bad but it works
Posted: 27 Feb 2010, 23:38
Times OnLine - 27/02/10
These are gloomy times for those convinced that cutting fossil fuel emissions is vital for the climate and the health of the oceans. Yvo de Boer, the formidable United Nations climate chief, has resigned, public belief in global warming is on the wane and there is shrill triumphalism in the blogosphere about the silly errors made by climate scientists.
Meanwhile, carbon trading — the process by which polluting companies can buy credits from companies with fewer emissions — is not proving as straightforward as had been hoped. Corus, for example, has mothballed its steel plant on Teesside, but is now widely expected to profit hugely by selling £250m worth of carbon credits that the government is giving it.
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