U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

I just got to admit, I love the anti-global warming arguments.

What???!!! Why? Afterall you ARE supposedly an emissions trader???

Well, I am a financial markets, commodities markets specialist, that believes that energy efficiency and a cleaner environment will be the result of all the Kyoto protocol stuff. Really.

But the change in the temperature, of a planet that is too many millions of years old for me to remember? Come on, there is certainly room for doubt.

The arguments that the anti-warming guys use are, well, kind of cool. Like the theory that scientists are pushed into agreeing or they won't get funding.

And villifying the easiest target in the world (oil companies) for the car addiction that most of the pro-warming crowd rallies against.

Loving it!

Australia Emissions Trading

This discourse in the Australian parliament, while in truth was perhaps not a riveting performance, reads well.

 

Mr HOWARD—at least and until we have a protocol throughout the world that includes all of the major emitters, and that means the inclusion of countries such as China, the United States and India. Until we have all the major emitters, one country unilaterally embracing an emissions trading scheme will result in great damage to that country. The reason we will not sign Kyoto is that, if we were to sign, we would accept burdens under the protocol that would not apply to our competitors, such as China and Indonesia. We would export jobs, and that is my point.

 

And for some reason, there is what appears to be good comedy.

 

Mr HOWARD—about the Treasurer’s position that the member for Grayndler did not acknowledge. Firstly, the Treasurer, unlike the party of the member for Grayndler, was not advocating a carbon tax. I know the Labor Party loves taxes but the Treasurer was not advocating a carbon tax. I also know that the Treasurer’s views on this matter are within context—

Opposition members interjecting—

The SPEAKER—The member for Melbourne is warned!

Mr Tanner—What for? I didn’t say anything.

-- -- -- --

Question

Does anyone care to tell me what is going on as regards emissions trading in Australia? I am really curious just now, since I would like to go there soon.

Where do we go?

So it looks to be some hedge punters coming in. Some calling for EUAs at 10.50 euros. I don't  mind.

 

.

 

Putting a lid on a bad story.

I am sorry, but this psuedo-story was nothing to begin with, and now they are embarrassing themselves in trying to cover their asses.

 

First Point Carbon reported that the Poles may enforce some restrictions on sales of EUAs which just sounded completely bogus to me  ("Poland ponders allowance sales restrictions"). Now they report that "this proposal " has been removed from the draft law. The proposal was, in my estimation, only wishful thinking that if ramped up enough, would make a good yellow journalism story.

 

19.09.06  Poland scraps EUA restriction plans

Poland will not implement any sort of restrictions on the sales of EU allowances, the country’s national administration of the EU ETS clarified today.

Poland is working on an amendment of its emissions trading legislation, and a draft released this summer proposed that only companies that have actually reduced their CO2 emissions would be allowed to sell their surplus allowances to the market. This was intended to keep market participants from slowing down production at their plants for EUA income purposes.

Agnieszka Galan at the national administration of the ETS confirmed today that this proposal has been removed from the draft law.

“The law is being drafted and much work remains, but at the moment we will not implement such restrictions,” she told Point Carbon.

Galan told a conference in Budapest today that the country’s second-phase draft national allocation plan (NAP), which proposes to allocate 266.17 million allowance to existing installations annually over 2008-2012, is a compromise between Poland’s Kyoto target and the need to see continued economic growth.

The draft NAP, even though proposing to allocate 30 million allowances more every year than in phase one, is 90 million tonnes of CO2 below the ETS sector’s share of Poland’s Kyoto target.

In addition to the yearly 266.17 million EUAs to installations, Poland wants to auction 2.6 million EUAs per year, and its draft NAP also has a JI reserve of 1.8 million allowances per year.

Budapest

 

Okay, okay, I am not genius. It is true that I do not know for certain that the Polish would consider restrictions or not, but the likelyhood is very low. Sure, someone might have floated a trial balloon, but the Poles have already made such a mess out of their Emissions NAP, the delays, as well as being complete ignoramuses in the international political scene lately, that they just would not seriously consider making this misstep also.  This is my opinion only.

Finally A Move In The Market

I am a simple guy with simple tastes.

So this move has made me happy.

Why?

Cause it finally moved! I don't give a bugger which direction, it moved!

Admittedly that wasn't a well-thought-out comment, but it got my point across. In fact, I had thought that a move up was in the cards, and luckily didn't feel like holding a position for all these doldrum weeks.

.

China Grasps Tightly

I am reading up on the story about the Chinese creating an Emissions Exchange. I really wonder if they will get it off the ground.

 

The exchange would be similar to markets in the U.S., where
the government caps sulfur-dioxide emissions and allows
manufacturers and utilities to voluntarily trade credits, or the
right to release carbon dioxide. China, which wants a cleaner
environment before hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, may
take some time to succeed,..

 

...The first climate exchange in a developing country is going
to be set up in Beijing,

 

As rgards the title, I found an article which clearly made use of a computer program to translate from Chinese. Always a good laugh.

"China grasps tightly in building the right exchange system of pollution emission"

 

see Grasping

 

http://www.enviroinfo.org.cn/Environment_Management/f041620_en.htm

 

.

Polish EUAs

Its a funny thing about Point Carbon, sometimes they are spot on. As in this article about how messed up the Polish EUA market is: Polish supply stunted by price and understanding.

It seems that confusion holds sway there. I might agree that it is also a price sensitive issue, but there is also an element of fear. due to the sizeable stake of some companies held by the government. They need ultra bureacratic procedures to be followed, and perhaps many a company officer needs to consult many upper level directors and board members, before he can sell EUAs (and probably before he can take a pee).

And sometimes Point Carbon can be so far off. In fact almost rumour-mongering, if you will. This story claims that the government is really getting going to float a law (or amendment) to restrict the selling of EUAs (under a confusing method): Poland ponders allowance sales restrictions.

When I read this line "Under a draft amendment to the Polish emissions trading legislation" I immediately thought that some really good PR agency, probably representing a lobbyist for the chemical sector, got a hold of Andy Allan (decent bloke at PC) and read him their fantasy view of a new amendment that no one has even seen.

Ok, colour me unpersuaded. And I have to admit, there is a slim chance some amendments might be made. But, thinking about how many times Poland has annoyed the EU (or Germany) lately, it strikes me as odd that they would (or could) do something so anathema to the Kyoto Protocol and the EU ETS scheme.

Lack of Posting

I have got to start posting more. Quite a few people are sending me emails about this site. I will do it, I promise. And now that I realize that I can post via email, rather than going to the blogger web interface (and thus alerting all my colleagues to my nefarious deeds) it should be much easier.

My next moans and groans should be about how dead the market is. And also about the latest funds that are being raised (and how they all pay too high prices for projects, as they do in every emerging market.

More soon. I promise.