Maurice Strong

Why am I not surprised to see his name involved with cap-and-trade? Let’s see, he was involved in Oil for Food, and cash funneled via U.N. agencies to North Korea, and under Kofi Annan received a million dollar check bankrolled by Saddam Hussein’s U.N.-sanctioned regime that was delivered by Tongsun Park—Maurice Strong embodies all that is sinister and shady.

Today he is involved in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the only firm in the U.S. that trades carbon credits, no doubt because he cares about the environment.

Deborah Corey Barnes has revealed much about Al Gore and this industry in her exposé by the Capital Research Center, “Al Gore’s Carbon Crusade: The Money and Connections Behind It,” a stomach-turning read:

Al Gore is chairman and founder of a private equity firm called Generation Investment Management (GIM). According to Gore, the London-based firm invests money from institutions and wealthy investors in companies that are going green. “Generation Investment Management (GIM), purchases—but isn’t a provider of—carbon dioxide offsets,” notes spokesman Richard Campbell. (CNSNews.com, March 7, 2007)… Along with Gore, the co-founder of GIM is former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson, who is currently the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. Last September Goldman Sachs bought 10% of CCX shares for $23 million. CCX owns half of the European Climate Exchange (ECX), Europe’s largest carbon trading company… The World Bank now operates a Carbon Finance Unit that conducts research on how to develop and trade carbon credits. The Bank works with Italy, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Spain to set up carbon credit funds in each country to purchase emission credits from firms for use in developing countries. In addition, it runs the Carbon Fund for Europe helping countries meet their Kyoto Protocol requirements. These funds are traded on the European Climate Exchange (half of which is owned by CCX, itself a creature of Al Gore’s firm, Generation Investment Management). Can we connect the dots? (emphases mine)

Maurice Strong and Al Gore as partners in industry—Can you say “Oil for Carbon Credits?”