Is Carbon Trading the Next Big Thing?

Here.

Excerpt:

Not for nothing, as the Russians say, are Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley pouring money into carbon trading. The giant financial firms need new products to sell into the increasingly interdependent global economy. So selling hot air--trading carbon credits for a cooler planet--could be the Next Big Thing. In fact, carbon trading volumes could eventually dwarf those from the sale of stocks, bonds and all other financial instruments.

The big banking firms are even researching ways to trade biodiversity--meaning, the once ridiculed idea of paying Peru, say, not to develop energy resources in pristine areas may not be far-fetched, after all.

According to recent Financial Times article, should consensus be attained on a plan to fight global climate change between the largest emitting jurisdictions, expenditures could top $1 trillion within five years.