The whole idea of carbon credits and this cap and trade scheme is just down right rediculous. If a large industrial complex is polluting too much, then all they have to do is buy carbon credits from another corporation that pollutes very little? It's not going to change the total amount of pollutants one bit. The only thing it's going to do is line the pockets of the brokers who handle these transactions, like Al Gore, who already has a corporation to handle these trades.

Why not get rid of the grandfather clauses and other loopholes some companies use to get around current environmental regulations, or just make the fines these companies pay (and have slush funds for) more than what it would cost to clean up their act? One good thing about the environmental movement is that through market forces, most corporations are becoming more aware and responsible by keeping a very watchful eye on themselves. After all, image is everything. Ever wonder why environmental activists use file photos and other images that are usually 40, 50, 60 years old to promote their cause? It's because they're not going to find smokestack pollution or dumping like that these days unless you go to China, India, or some developing third world country. We've come a long way since then, and granted, we've still got work to do. But it's time we start replacing utopian dreams with a little common sense.