Until recently, most Maineiacs thought of carbon as the residue they scraped from the valves of farm tractor engines. Today, however, it is a word most commonly referring to “greenhouse gases,” which trap heat in the atmosphere and cause earth warming. The most common of these gases is carbon dioxide (CO2), a mixture of carbon and oxygen.
Since Eve lit a fire under Adam, it has been produced by such “natural” happenings as volcanic eruptions and forest fires. Next common, at about 18 percent of the total and well known to fraternity boys, is methane – also a “natural” commodity – created by animal digestion and decay of organic matter. There are also a few other, but far more lethal, “minor” gases, such as HFC23 (a refrigerant), which are produced by man.
With forests and oceans to soak up gases, from the Garden of Eden all the way up to the election of a couple Democrats this past century, the atmosphere’s carbon “balance” was kept in a healthy equilibrium.
But no more.
Largely through the squandering of fossil fuels – chiefly oil and coal – enough of these poisons are being funneled aloft to seriously upset the climate apple cart. So serious, in fact, that a worldwide agreement aimed at reducing them, known as the Kyoto treaty, was ratified by 36 countries – chiefly in Europe and Asia – in 2005.
The Kyoto scheme created “carbon credits,” which may be earned by individuals or groups. These may be obtained either by reducing existing emissions (such as new factory smokestacks) or by creating a “reduction” from scratch, e.g., planting trees. Credits may be sold to others who can’t (or won’t) meet prescribed limits. In this way, wealthy emitters can buy the privilege of continuing to emit. For example: Pig farmers in China find it profitable to capture the gas from their pig poop because corporate jets carrying Tom Cruise to the Cannes Film Festival or arms manufacturers in Romania will pay cash for carbon credits. Zany as this scheme appears, it seems to work. The rich buy from the poor – capitalism at its finest.
This system also opens up a whole new sandbox in which world financiers can play. A multi-billion dollar market is already operating in London buying and selling these credits, much like the New York Stock Exchange. According to Fortune magazine, as much as $6 billion profit is already possible in China with an investment of only $150 million. There are such large amounts involved that the Chinese government – never slow to spot a profit – has already instituted a tax of 65 percent on such profits.
Thanks to Mr. Bush, the U.S. did not sign up at Kyoto, but he will shortly be back in Texas riding his mountain bike, and there will be new thinkers in Washington. Inspired by this likelihood, the economist Lucius Flatley of North Gorham convened a group to discuss the applicability of the Kyoto solution to the Pine Tree state.
He informed that group that one carbon credit equals one ton of CO2 per year. He also noted that methane produces 25 times as much damage as CO2; therefore, one ton of methane buys 25 credits. Since each cow in Gorham produces both carbon dioxide and methane, he suggested that they consider a system to capture this gas in order to sell the carbon credits to the Maine Legislature, which has serious problems with gas limits. Since Gorham would have to capture more gas than the Legislature would be allowed to emit, Maine’s atmosphere would derive a net benefit.
Another thinker, informed that HFC23 yields thousands of times more credits than either CO2 or methane, recommended that the group consider breeding pigs that produce this rare gas, which could be captured for multitudinous credits. One subscriber mused on a Gorham farm product, cannabis. Since growing marijuana is a credit because, like all plants, it absorbs CO2, he suggested that if users planted more than they smoked we could then hire fewer police.
It was agreed that this system met the capitalist definition of an “exchange” – something that benefits both parties – and that it represents the “American Way,” especially in Maine, where things are “The Way Life Should Be”.
Note: A scheme similar to the Kyoto’s is currently before the Congress, which will apply only to the U.S.
Stay tuned.
Rodney Quinn, who lives in Gorham, is a former Maine secretary of state. He can be reached at rquinn@maine.rr.com.
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