From The New York Times, "Carbon Credits Gone Awry Raise Output of Harmful Gas" By Elisabeth Rosenthal and Andrew W Lehren:
When the United Nations wanted to help slow climate change, it established what seemed a sensible system.
Industrial gases were rated based on their power to warm the atmosphere. The more dangerous the gas, the more that manufacturers in developing nations would be compensated as they reduced their emissions.*** They quickly figured out that they could earn one carbon credit by eliminating one ton of carbon dioxide, but could earn more than 11,000 credits by simply destroying a ton of an obscure waste gas normally released in the manufacturing of a widely used coolant gas.*** That incentive has driven plants in the developing world not only to increase production of the coolant gas but also to keep it high — a huge problem because the coolant itself contributes to global warming and depletes the ozone layer.
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