Carbon Trading

Well, it's good to know that the European Union's Carbon Trading scheme is at least working a little bit. Much as people may have legitimate grievances of over-allocation and other forms of excessive cuddling of carbon emitters, in the wake of the Japanese earthquake, carbon prices are behaving exactly as they should. From EUObserver:

European carbon prices hit a two-year high on Monday (14 March), as the region reassesses the future of its nuclear energy industry following events in Japan.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said plans to extend the operating life of the country's nuclear plants would be suspended for at least three months, pending an inquiry into their safety, while Switzerland halted plans to build new reactors.

Carbon permits under the EU's emissions trading scheme, which Switzerland is set to join, rose 5.5 percent to close at €16.60 a tonne on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London.

(...)

A German government decision to cancel nuclear extensions would result in an additional demand for 700 million tonnes of carbon through 2020, Heiko Siemann, an analyst for UniCredit said.