Is Carbon Trading Just Corporate Greenwashing?

Proponents say carbon trading is an essential market-based strategy for combating global warming while critics argue that it provides cover for corporate polluters.

1 minute read

November 1, 2007, 11:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote today on a bill promoting carbon trading, which sets greenhouse gas emissions limits and allowances for each industry and then creates a system to trade the allowances. Critics argue that carbon trading actually delays the crucial process of big polluters reducing their emissions. We host a debate between Annie Petsonk of Environmental Defense and Daphne Wysham of the Institute for Policy Studies."

Annie Petsonk: "...we've got to give people economic incentives so that it becomes in their financial self-interest to cut global warming pollution now. That's what carbon trading does... We believe that the Americas Climate Security Act that's going to be voted on this morning in the Environment and Public Works Committee is a very good first step. Is it perfect? No. Are senators moving to improve it? Yes."

Daphne Wysham: "...what we should be looking at is how carbon trading is playing out in reality...essentially what carbon trading does is it turns the earth's carbon cycling capacity into property that is to be bought and sold in a global market. And by turning carbon into a commodity, we're essentially taking the earth's ability to support a climate conducive to life and human societies and passing it into the same corporate hands that are destroying the climate."

Thursday, November 1, 2007 in Democracy Now!

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 9, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Green vintage Chicago streetcar from the 1940s parked at the Illinois Railroad Museum in 1988.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails

Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

July 13, 2025 - WTTV

Aerial view of downtown San Antonio, Texas at night with rotating Tower of the Americas in foreground.

San Antonio and Austin are Fusing Into one Massive Megaregion

The region spanning the two central Texas cities is growing fast, posing challenges for local infrastructure and water supplies.

July 3, 2025 - Governing

White park shuttles with large Zion logo on side and red rock cliffs in background in Zion National Park.

Since Zion's Shuttles Went Electric “The Smog is Gone”

Visitors to Zion National Park can enjoy the canyon via the nation’s first fully electric park shuttle system.

3 hours ago - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Chart of federal transportation funding comparing Biden and Trump administration spending.

Trump Distributing DOT Safety Funds at 1/10 Rate of Biden

Funds for Safe Streets and other transportation safety and equity programs are being held up by administrative reviews and conflicts with the Trump administration’s priorities.

4 hours ago - Transportation for America

Close-up on yellow and black TAXI sign on top of beige car in central Munich, Germany.

German Cities Subsidize Taxis for Women Amid Wave of Violence

Free or low-cost taxi rides can help women navigate cities more safely, but critics say the programs don't address the root causes of violence against women.

5 hours ago - Bloomberg