Carbon Markets - Marchés du Carbone

The development of the Canadian carbon market is slowly starting to take shape albeit at a different paces depending on the provinces. In Alberta, the land of the Canadian Prime Minister Harper, the situation appears to be troubling as was recently reported in the Calgary Herald (Carbon trading market pays off for Alberta farmers, October 19, 2009). The system appears to be questionable since farmers are receiving lots of money simply for not tilling their land. Is a similar Canada-wide system in the cards?

Then you have the black liquor subsidy in the U.S. which can potentially dole out millions of dollars to pulp and paper mills to continue polluting at the expense of Canadian producers.

Let's not forget the series of ecological disasters, such as the under-reported oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico where two oil tankers collided. The result: 20,000 gallons (approx. 75,000 litres) of bunker fuel (No. 6) oozing in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is difficult not to be cynical when these types of developments occur. Whether we are on the right trajectory remains to be seen (hopefully in Copenhagen).