Comments on: Have Ethics Come to Wall Street? Firms Impose Standards on Coal Projects http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/02/have-ethics-come-to-wall-street-firms.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 02:09:47 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Anonymous http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/02/have-ethics-come-to-wall-street-firms.html#comment-3698 Anonymous Mon, 04 Feb 2008 22:11:00 +0000 http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/02/have-ethics-come-to-wall-street-firms-impose-standards-on-coal-projects/#comment-3698 >But why does the cynic in me think these strictures might have something to do with these firms' ambitions in the carbon trading business or in funding alternative energy?<<br/><br/>How great a portion of what will be a x-trillion dollar market ends in the hands of brokers, fin. institutions, accountants? What portion can be expected to effectively reduces CO₂ etc rather than redistributing or even increasing?<br/><br/>Commodification of the atmosphere establishes property rights, places these in the hands of trading desks as well as firms which, since the 1960s, have slowly worked to create what was then termed a "social industrial complex"<br/><br/>“Carbon will be the world’s biggest commodity market, and it could become the world’s biggest market over all,” said Mr. Redshaw, the head of environmental markets at Barclays Capital. ..." (NYT, 7/5/07)<br/><br/>Perhaps the most overt announcements of the mentioned complex were made nearly fourty years ago at Nixon's "Conference on the Industrial World Ahead...". Or slightly earlier, James Ling's (LTV) statement, 'One must believe in the long term threat' captured the essence of a first sell the threat(s)* then the solutions method that has been replayed and built on over the intervening decades. <br/><br/>*not to be taken simply as military since the social complex was intended as an adjunct to the MIC. >But why does the cynic in me think these strictures might have something to do with these firms’ ambitions in the carbon trading business or in funding alternative energy?<

How great a portion of what will be a x-trillion dollar market ends in the hands of brokers, fin. institutions, accountants? What portion can be expected to effectively reduces CO₂ etc rather than redistributing or even increasing?

Commodification of the atmosphere establishes property rights, places these in the hands of trading desks as well as firms which, since the 1960s, have slowly worked to create what was then termed a “social industrial complex”

“Carbon will be the world’s biggest commodity market, and it could become the world’s biggest market over all,” said Mr. Redshaw, the head of environmental markets at Barclays Capital. …” (NYT, 7/5/07)

Perhaps the most overt announcements of the mentioned complex were made nearly fourty years ago at Nixon’s “Conference on the Industrial World Ahead…”. Or slightly earlier, James Ling’s (LTV) statement, ‘One must believe in the long term threat’ captured the essence of a first sell the threat(s)* then the solutions method that has been replayed and built on over the intervening decades.

*not to be taken simply as military since the social complex was intended as an adjunct to the MIC.

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