Copenhagen, Denmark: Home of the CO2 Cheats

Carbon Trading, something which Al Gore has profited from, basically works so that if you “produce” 1 ton of CO2 you can buy an “offset credit” for that amount assuring that your careless emission of CO2 will not harm the planet because you have taken someone else’s ton off the market so they can’t use it.  The price of these credits is supposedly market-driven although there has been much speculation as to whether they are really worth anything, however a huge industry has grown up around this concept.

So, if you are rich and live a “carbon intensive lifestyle” (like Al Gore) you can buy your guilt away and won’t have to change your behavior as long as you have enough money to continue to pay.

Now it seems as though the tiny country of Denmark is in the middle of a scandal around these offset credits (ironic as they are hosting the climate change summit):

Denmark is the centre of a comprehensive tax scam involving CO2 quotas, in which the cheats exploit a so-called ‘VAT carrousel’, reports Ekstra Bladet newspaper.

Police and authorities in several European countries are investigating scams worth billions of kroner, which all originate in the Danish quota register. The CO2 quotas are traded in other EU countries.

Denmark’s quota register, which the Energy Agency within the Climate and Energy Ministry administers, is the largest in the world in terms of personal quota registrations. It is much easier to register here than in other countries, where it can take up to three months to be approved.

Ekstra Bladet reporters have found examples of people using false addresses and companies that are in liquidation, which haven’t been removed from the register.

One of the cases, which stems from the Danish register, involves fraud of more than 8 billion kroner. This case, in which nine people have been arrested, is being investigated in England.

The market for CO2 trade has exploded in recent years and is worth an estimated 675 billion kroner globally.

The implications of this scheme, of which we have still not heard about in the American press, are probably not the only example of such fraud.  There is big money in CO2 trading and where there is so much to gain (and lose), there will be organized crime, fraud, and theft.

Since the entire concept of “global warming” is flawed, so is the concept of CO2 credits.  There is even a website to tell you how to “make a difference” and save the planet:

Your purchase funds reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through projects such as wind farms, which produce clean energy that displaces energy from fossil fuels. By funding these reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, you balance out, or offset, your own impact by an equivalent amount. Carbon offsets help you take personal responsibility for the environmental consequences of your activities.

These sites are a tad simplistic as they do not tell you all of the carbon-intensive activities needed to design, build, distribute, establish, and maintain such things as wind farms and if you are wondering how you know whether this money you will spend to offset your lifestyle is going anywhere we have only this for guidance:

A quality offset is determined by the independent certification backing it.

Of course, if you buy into this concept there is no official body regulating these offsets but guilt can be wiped away in mere minutes:

Buy the offset! Most offset providers sell through the Internet, so you’ll be able to buy with a credit card and get confirmation of your new clean-living, clean-driving status within minutes.

Now when you go to Conservative-owned Whole Foods and drive your Japanese government-funded Prius you can tell all of your friends you are living a carbon neutral lifestyle so your next trip to Patagonia won’t really be hurting the environment!

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