Cap and trade, carbon offsets and carbon markets could soon spawn a massive trillion dollar derivatives market in sub-prime carbon, according to a new report from Friends of the Earth. Congressional climate legislation is poised to unleash new carbon markets with very little regulatory oversight, raising the spector of a new speculative bubble that makes millions for fancy Wall Street financiers while undermining real efforts to slow climate change, which disproportionately impacts the poor. Sound familiar?

“Subprime carbon credits may ultimately fail to reduce greenhouse gases and, like subprime mortgages, could collapse in value, yet they are already being securitized and resold in secondary markets. The report recommends that lawmakers include carbon trading in current debates about financial reform, and warns against hastily creating carbon markets without proper oversight.”

See more at: http://www.foe.org/subprimecarbon