Pork Bellies, pronto...and ditch the Carbon...

Ah...yes...I believe I can sense Spring in the air...or perhaps spring in my step...

NZX Drops By Record After Slashing Proceeds of Carbon Unit Sale

Feel the rush of the Carbon Market as it caresses the valley floor...

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- European Union carbon permits fell from their highest level in seven weeks as gas prices dropped.

Gas prices? Ok...whatever story makes you feel good...but there is THIS.

Investors are steering clear of energy-saving projects meant to generate carbon credits, and traders in Europe are hunkering down through a period of consolidation that is disappointing to those who had hoped carbon markets would grow quickly into a $2 trillion-a-year business.

That's a shame...

Bureaucratic promises of markets for forestry carbon offsets, claimed to be worth $150 million, would not materialize unless the US Congress passes a so-called “cap & trade” climate bill. Known as “cap & tax”, such legislation would tax energy users, producers and most emissions. A recent report says faltering congressional attempts to pass such a bill, means that a forest carbon market is unlikely soon.

If a forest carbon market falls apart and no one is there to hear it...does it make a sound?

The market for carbon trading, never popular in some circles to begin with, is starting to look rather shaky. The bungled Copenhagen summit was bad enough. Now we have the UK energy regulator suggesting the market is not working and that a floor price for carbon should be imposed.

I love the fact that these opportunistic jackasses who were looking to make a killing on the carbon market are now wondering whether it's time to cut and run before the bottom falls out. I'd like to see quite a few of them wrecked...