Mr James Hansen head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies said that cap and trade programs are not up to the task of dealing with climate change. He added that the current focus on carbon reduction targets along with carbon trading schemes make it too easy for countries to wriggle out of their commitments to curb climate change.

Mr Hansen and his wife Ms Anniek wrote a personal plea to Mr Barack Obama and his wife Ms Michelle, urging the incoming president to use policies to curb climate change. The letter contains a wish list of 3 policy measures to tackle climate change.

First, he wants a freeze and phase out of coal fired power stations that do not use carbon capture and storage.

Second, he proposes a mechanism for penalizing high carbon users while rewarding low carbon users. The idea is to tax carbon at source and then redistribute the revenue equally among taxpayers.

Finally, he wants more research into so called fourth generation nuclear plants, which can use nuclear waste as fuel.

It may be noted that Mr Obama confirmed his green team in December 2008. Some industry executives said that Mr Obama’s presidency may signal good times for the sustainability industry.