The Case for a Carbon Tax to Control Climate Change (Part II) by Robert J. Shapiro - The Globalist

In any case, there is no conceivable rationale for deliberately creating a trillion dollars in new financial instruments. These would quickly produce derivatives and derivatives of those derivatives, and we now know the economic risks such markets can pose when their underlying asset is basic to the economy — like mortgages and energy — and subject to large price swings and bubbles.

Green.view: Maized and confused | The Economist

A bigger problem, though, is the unstoppable desire of politicians to pick green winners—and not necessarily for green reasons. Ethanol, like “clean coal”, has a habit of being among them not because of its inherent virtues, but rather its political geography. Maize grows in crucial states, some of them “swing” states like Iowa and Ohio. Barack Obama thus recently renewed his support for American, maize-based ethanol.

Hybrid Vehicles Failing to Produce Environmental Benefits | Green Business | Reuters

Despite government rebates for hybrids offered to consumers in U.S. and Canada, the programs are failing to produce environmental benefits, yet the programs continue to cost consumers. This according to a new study, "Green Drivers or Free Riders? An Analysis of Tax Rebates for Hybrid Vehicles," from the University of British Columbia (UBC).

The study finds that hybrid sales have not replaced gas guzzling SUVS, but rather have replaced small, relatively fuel-efficient, conventional cars.