You know that money that we urgently needed to save your grandchildren from CO2-induced hellfire?

...sorry, we just decided to spend it on a bunch of other stuff.

How cap-and-trade revenues went to fix state budgets

It was the latest installment of a windfall that the 10 states have largely committed to promoting energy efficiency.

Lately, however, a few of the cash-strapped states have had other designs on the money. The same day as the most recent auction, June 9, New Hampshire lawmakers voted to take all of the state's expected $3.1 million share of the proceeds and use it to help plug a $295 million budget hole. That move came after New York and New Jersey had staged even bigger raids on cap-and-trade funds. New York transferred $90 million out of a fund of auction proceeds and into its general fund.

The money grabs are creating concern among environmentalists.