DeSmog

Facebook-f X-twitter
Subscribe

DeSmog

Donate
Search
Search

Climate's Sub-Prime Mortgages

By Ross Gelbspan
on

Carbon offsets — and emissions-trading schemes, their industrial-scale siblings — are the environmental version of subprime mortgages.

They both started from some admirable premises. Developing countries like China and India need to be recruited into the fight against greenhouse gases. And markets are a better mechanism for change than command and control. But when those big ideas collide with the real world, the result is hand-waving at best, outright scams at worst. Moreover, they give the illusion that something constructive is being done.

By Ross Gelbspan

Related Posts

‘People’s Rights Are Being Signed Away,’ Claim Albertans Near Proposed Carbon Capture Project
ByTaylor Noakes
on
With only two months until a $20B CCS proposal pushed by the oil industry is finalized, local communities say they haven’t been consulted.
Exclusive: Pig and Poultry Air Pollution Costs UK Over £130 Million a Year  
ByClare Carlile
on
Residents living near the intensive farms say clouds of foul-smelling pollutants can make it hard to breathe.
Series: Investigating Intensive Livestock Pollution
uk/Fossil Fuel Trade Group Chief Says Approving Rosebank and Jackdaw Would be ‘Climate Leadership’
ByAdam Barnett
on
OEUK chief slammed for ‘laughable’ claim at Labour conference.
AI Was Supposed to Cut Emissions. Instead, Fossil Fuel Companies Are Using It to Find More Oil and Gas.
BySarah Hofmann
on
A new study found AI-driven fossil fuel productivity could increase emissions. Here are examples of companies already using AI to boost production.
Series: Tech vs Climate