Global Warming Article Published

[PELLUCID]

The Nassau Institute has published my article speculating on how the Bahamas might get paid to fight global warming: http://www.nassauinstitute.org

Unfortunately, their web site has been under attack since last week. Perhaps someone they disagreed with is trying to eat them. As a result, their web host blocked a number of IP addresses. I cannot reach them directly from OII. There may be other ISP's blocked as well. You can use http://www.proxysurf.org/ or any similar proxy service to bypass the block.

Enjoy! And the spoof article should be ready this week, if I can get a good scan of a Bahamian $10 bill.

[SusieAndAl]

Excellent article -- well thought out and conservative.

[PELLUCID]

Thanks Susie & Al!

I can now access http://www.nassauinstitute.org/ through OII. Hopefully others can too. Also, they've corrected a broken link or two in the article.

Will keep everyone posted as to further developments.

[Willy Landham]

Nice work professor but...

[SamFamAustin]

Very well researched and written. Just don't invite many cruise ships over, as they can pump several tons of CO2 an hour ... no make that every few minutes.

And here's another concern: Global Dimming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_dimming

No, that's not a term meaning that people are getting less intelligent. :p

Can't wait for the "alternative" version!
Sam

[Willy Landham]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Just a few problems that I see

[SamFamAustin]

Hey Willy, not knowing Latin was that something about Post Toasties? You know, high fiber, no fat, no cholesteral. More methane gas? Yikes! I knew something was wrong with them ...
Sammie

[PELLUCID]

Amazingly, the Nassau Tribune picked up my article on Tuesday in the business section.

Regarding Willie's objections, all points taken. The article doesn't intend to evangelize global warming to non-believers. It merely aims to begin discussion on the issue. In particular, it proposes ideas that might bring in $$ while also making progress as defined under the current scientific consensus.

As Oakeshott or Burke or some dam' Brit said, a conservative sees the world as it is, not as he wishes it to be ;-)

[Willy Landham]

...Peace...

[SusieAndAl]

Hi Everyone,

Here's a link to today's NYT article. Pellucid is way ahead of the curve on this one!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/business/28carbon.html

[SamFamAustin]

Ah yes, carbon credits on the Chicago and EU exchanges - some have actually made some good money trading them. It is not very complex, since you can bank any additional CO2-equivalent reductions beyond the target, which could be 6% per year or something like that. You can also trade in sulfur dioxide (SO2) credits if you want. Most all of the traded stuff comes from very large powerplants, refineries, and manufacturers. If you buy at $1 a ton and sell at $5 a ton, you just made four times your money.

It's not a hot market yet in terms of volume and so far there is no mechanism for getting credits for "CO2 sinks." As Pellucid described, "sinks" are usually biological things such as forests, reefs, seaweed beds, and naturally take in CO2 and emit oxygen such as during photosynthesis. Many intelligent people such as you have asked "if we plant a million trees can we get some of those reduction credits?"

So far the answer has been "no." This is difficult to explain because the credit system was intended to reduce measurable amounts of CO2 from industrial sources, beyond what they were asked to reduce to participate in the program. In other words, Brazil doesn't get penalized for cutting down a million acres of forest every year, but large industries located there (in the middle of a decimated forest) could apply for carbon credits.

I know, the system is screwy and ripe for abuse. But the problem with quantifying CO2 sinks such as from Barzil forests or Abaco Islands is that it cannot be measured by a smokestack monitor ... it must be modelled by some nerds and the traders don't trust the nerds. Sorry, it is as simple as that.

Some people are working on the problem. After five years there hasn't been a lot of progress but let's hang in there. Just today I read an article that a large arctic floe by the North Pole just broke up due to Global Warming. Build it and they will come, is what I say. /Sammie ;)