Sounds like carbon emission rights which are freely traded from companies that just get them without using them; iirc Tesla earned a lot of money selling their

Sounds like carbon emission rights which are freely traded from companies that just get them without using them; iirc Tesla earned a lot of money selling their emission rights. I mean on paper it's a good idea, but there's not enough restrictions. Emission rights, for example, should be bought (from the government) in the first place, at an exponential price (so the more you need the more you pay). Supply should be reduced every year, with a goal being zero. They should not be tradeable across country (or in the case of the US, state) borders. Same with these renewable energy certificates mentioned, the further away the source, the higher the price should be. But that's all bookkeeping shenanigans; it doesn't mean that e.g. data centers or industry will reduce their energy usage. That's what's broken about the push for renewable energy; it isn't a replacement of existing power production, it's on top of, and any added capacity is bought up and used.