NY Times on Chicago Climate Exchange

I spoke about the topic of carbon credits before (see here and here and here and, finally, here). Yesterday's New York Times Magazine had an article about the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) titled, "Capital Pollution Solution".

It was an interesting article to me considering I am still having some difficulty getting my hands around exactly what it is. In short, it appears to be a market where companies and individuals can buy and sell carbon credits. For example, a company that owns or purchases land full of trees will get carbon reducing credits that they can sell to companies that will be introducing more carbon credits into the atmosphere than had been anticipated.

Such markets, I believe, were conceived when the Kyoto Protocol was being written. It is a requirement for companies to take part. Since the U.S. did not sign the Kyoto Protocol, the CCX is purely voluntary. Interesting, though, that many companies are participating.

The article speaks of some criticisms of the CCX. One such criticism is that the rules were not written in the open. There are competing markets popping up in the U.S. - one, the R.G.G.I. (regional greenhouse gas initiative) is a partnership among a number of U.S. eastern states. It's rules have apparently been more open.