This article appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday, March 12, 2008:
UH wants a focus
on carbon trading
Business-law course to train for what's expected to be a growing field
By TOM FOWLER
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
It may be several years before Congress passes laws
regulating greenhouse gases, but the
A joint venture between the C.T. Bauer College of Business and the UH Law Center will offer a course in carbon trading beginning next spring, aimed at preparing the local work force for what many expect will become a huge business with deep Houston ties.
The European carbon market, where companies trade a shrinking allotment of carbon dioxide emission permits, is worth about $60 billion per year, according to consulting firm Point Carbon.
If the
"Very
few colleges or law schools have looked at CO2 trading, and those that have
focus just on the European Union system," Flatt
said. "We will look at the EU and the systems being developed in
The creation of these new markets is part of a broader trend
over the past 40 years in which energy, mortgages, agricultural products and
even information have become traded commodities, said Richard Sandor, CEO of the Chicago Climate Exchange and a professor
at the Kellogg School of Management at
"The 21st century will see yet another wealth driver by commoditization, but this time of air and water," Sandor said Tuesday at an energy trading conference sponsored by UH.
"In fact, we will witness, as it should be, those becoming the most precious commodities in the world."
For now, the exchange provides a marketplace for trading of CO2 emissions credits based on voluntary but legally binding emissions reductions. The market would be far larger if greenhouse emissions limits became law.
That business has expanded in recent years, as commodity prices
climbed and companies recognized
It's not clear if
Flatt noted that while some
The UH
carbon trading course will be a joint effort between the law center and the
business school's Global Energy Management Institute, or GEMI, and will be
team-taught by Flatt and finance professors Craig Pirrong and Praveen Kumar.
"Other schools that have looked at emissions markets have focused on having practitioners from the industry come in and speak, and we'll do that, too," Flatt said. "But we don't think anyone has put the academic resources behind it that we have."
The
In 2002 it launched GEMI, which is aimed at giving students concentrated studies in energy fields, including finance and trading. BusinessWeek cited the program in its annual rankings of business schools.
Since
2005 the UH
The following article appeared on the Climate Wire website Thursday, Mar 13, 2008:
Beginning next spring, the UH Law Center will team with the C.T. Bauer College of Business to offer a course in carbon trading, aimed at preparing the local work force for what many expect will become a huge business with deep Houston ties.
If the
"Very few colleges
or law schools have looked at CO2 trading, and those that have focus just on
the European Union system," Flatt said. "We
will look at the E.U. and the systems being developed in California, but also
look at the moving target of U.S. legislation toward a federal CO2 market"
(Tom Fowler, Houston Chronicle,
March 11). – JV
The class was
also mentioned in the Friday, March 21 issue of the popular NewEnergyNews
blog:
When – not if, when –
Congress enacts a mandatory national greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade
system it is expected to grow into a $600 billion to $1 trillion per year
market by 2020.
Cap-and-trade legislation has already been passed through Senate committees
and is expected to be the subject of floor debate in the spring. Insiders say
it is unlikely to be passed until after the November presidential election.
Richard Sandor, CEO,
Houston, home to the U.S. oil and gas industry, wants to be ready to put
its expertise at energy trading to work in the new market.
The announcement of this program is another small example of how a change
is most assuredly coming.
UH wants a focus on carbon trading; Business-law course to
train for what’s expected to be a growing field
Tom Fowler, March 11, 2008 (Houston Chronicle)
WHO
C.T. Bauer College of Business Global Energy Management Institute (GEMI),
University of Houston (UH) Law Center (Victor Flatt,
environmental law professor; finance professors Craig Pirrong
and Praveen Kumar)
WHAT
GEMI and the UH law school will join to offer a course on emissions trading,
designed to familiarize the Houston-area energy-trading community with the
complexities and opportunities of the new market.
WHEN
- The new course will be taught in the upcoming spring semester.
- GEMI launched in 2002 for concentrated studies in energy-related finance and
trading.
- UH’s Center for Environment, Energy and Natural
Resources Law launched in October 2007.
- UH
WHERE
- Houston is the trading hub for the fossil fuels and electric power markets.
- The Chicago Climte Exchange (CCX) is presently the
biggest
WHY
- When a cap-and-trade system is enacted, there will be a need for attorneys
and business people with knowledge of the details.
- The EU emissions market value doubled last year to $60 billion.
- Houston emissions trading offers lower business costs and a deep
energy-trading talent pool but NY, D.C. and Chicago have the lawyers and banks.
QUOTES
- Victor Flatt, environmental law professor, UH:
"Very few colleges or law schools have looked at CO2 trading, and those
that have focus just on the European Union system…We will look at the EU
and the systems being developed in California, but also look at the moving
target of U.S. legislation toward a federal CO2 market."
- Flatt: "Other schools that have looked at
emissions markets have focused on having practitioners from the industry come
in and speak, and we'll do that, too…But we don't think anyone has put
the academic resources behind it that we have."
posted by Herman K. Trabish @ 6:00 AM