18 billion budget deficit!, page-45

Lest us not forget the equally corrupt carbon tax the witch introduced at highly inflated prices. Thank god she isn't a fund manager!:

EU carbon market 'near collapse' as legislators reject permit delay
BY:SEAN CARNEY From: The Wall Street Journal April 17, 2013 9:05AM
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THE European Union's flagship program to fight global warming - a regional carbon-emissions trading system - suffered a major blow when legislators rejected a proposal aimed at saving the market from collapse.

After the European Parliament's rejection, spooked investors drove the already depressed price of carbon emission permits down by nearly half. Benchmark electricity prices also fell.

The legislature derailed -at least temporarily - a plan to revive prices by postponing the issuance of any new permits for between five and seven years. Electricity generators and some other industries must buy the permits to cover their carbon dioxide emissions.

Europe's Emissions Trading System, launched in 2008, was intended to protect the environment by raising the cost of polluting and encouraging businesses to invest in cleaner technologies.

But lately, as the region struggles to recover from recession, politicians have focused more on economics—generating jobs and sparking growth—relegating green concerns to second.


Poland, one of the EU's less-affluent members, has been outspoken in its opposition to the measure, which it said could hamper development. The country's environment minister, Marcin Korolec, called the result Tuesday "a vote of reason."

In Germany, Economy Minister Philipp Rösler also welcomed the rejection as an "excellent signal" for a continuing economic recovery.

"Reducing supply CO2 allowances would equate to an intervention into a functioning market system," and further burden industry, he said.

Several environment ministers around Europe—including Germany—came out last week in favour of the plan, calling it necessary to safeguard the EU's long-term climate targets.

After the vote, the European Parliament's Environment Committee said that some members felt that "a rise in the carbon price would erode the competitiveness of European industry and be passed on in household energy bills."

Slack demand for electricity because of the recession and an abundance of permits helped push the price of emitting a ton of carbon below 5 euros ($6.34) earlier this year, from nearly 30 euros in 2008.

On Tuesday, the price dropped to 2.55 euros before recovering partially to 3.20 euros.

Without some intervention to reduce supply, "the ETS will almost certainly collapse," said Kash Burchett, a London-based analyst at consulting company IHS Energy.

"Prices will likely sink below 1 euro per ton as participants recognise that there is no political will at present to restore the market mechanism to functioning order," he said.

That, in turn, would severely undercut the credibility of Europe's carbon market as a major contributor to the bloc's goal of reducing carbon emissions 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, which drafted the so-called back-loading plan, said it regretted parliament's move. Environment ministers from the member states said they would try to draw up an alternate.

Environmental groups criticised the vote as sending the wrong message.

"Today's vote is a historic failure," said Joris den Blanken, EU climate policy director at environmental advocacy group Greenpeace.

Rob Elsworth from the UK group Sandbag, a non-profit that lobbies for effective carbon markets, said members of Parliament needed to act "to prevent the EU's climate policy from drifting dangerously off course."

Late in the day Tuesday, contracts for 2014 German baseload power fell, to 39.55 euros per megawatt hour from 41 euros per megawatt before the vote.

Investors, watching falling electricity prices and worried that utilities will have to write down the value of permits they now hold, drove down power company shares.

Additional reporting: Selina Williams, Marynia Kruk and Jan Hromadko