training in trading
While George Bush is kicking and screaming against the Kyoto Protocol, 150 cities in the U.S. are implementing local climate action plans, reports Grist. And since 2003 the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) has been providing North America's first and only voluntary, but legally binding, emissions-trading market. With 90 participants and carbon trading units priced very low, some critics say the CCX doesn't amount to much, but as the world moves towards mandatory carbon monitoring, the CCX provides a good training ground. It's not as strong as the European Union's exchange, with more than 12,000 industrial plants on board, but advocates say that companies that have already started monitoring carbon emissions will have a competitive edge, a head start for the day when regulation does come.