Going for the Gas

While the United States is ignoring the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gases, other countries have rolled up their sleeves and launched systems to trade carbon dioxide. Actually, they'll be trading permissions to emit carbon dioxide, paradoxically with the overall effect of reducing the total of carbon dioxide thrust into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. The objective is to reduce global warming, believed to be caused by carbon dioxide emissions.

In "Emission Permission," journalist Mark Ingebretsen and IEEE Spectrum senior editor William Sweet explain how these permissions will work. They also tell how traders are already positioning themselves to get a piece of the trading action.