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Originally Posted by kutulu
I didn't see the show but that is a terrible comparison. A sin tax is just giving money to the church. Carbon credits are credits for real and quantifiable emissions reductions. They make emissions reduction programs cost effective by getting the public involved.
I work as an environmental consultant and our clients are the landfill industry. The decay of waste results in the production of methane and carbon dioxide. Landfills that exceed certain thresholds are required to install landfill gas collection systems that combust the methane in the landfill gas. Since methane has a much higher global warming potential, converting it to CO2 is a net emissions reduction. Smaller landfills, however, are not required to install collection systems.
Recently my company has become involved with carbon credits through the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). The CCX will give you carbon credits that you can sell on the open market. There are a few catches:
1. You can only get credits if you can prove that the reductions are real
2. You cannot get any credits if there is any regulatory rule forcing you to make the emissions reductions.
Meeting these conditions requires confirmation by third parties.
We've completed a few projects and it has been a huge success. The carbon credits paid for all of the costs of designing and building the gas collection system. On top of that, the cities that we did this for made money and we made money as well. It is a win for us, a win for the city, and a win for the environment.
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Thank you for the information. I don't know much about it and that is why I wanted to discuss it. It sounds like your company is doing a good thing and making money. This goes along the lines of the changes in the 60s and 70s that was posted previously. I can understand companies being held accountable if they are truly causing dangers to the atmosphere.
However, on the show, they were having individuals buy carbon credits. I found that to be a bit ridiculous and that is what was being compared to the sin tax.