I am starting to understand why so many Ivy League endowments invested in forest land. It is part of a cap and trade carbon economy where they will theoretically get rich from payments not to cut down trees. Very politically correct and Owl Gore-ish. In the short run, these universities are losing on this investment -- and I suspect there will be other complications until such time as someone actually invents a true green cheap energy source that doesn't need a federal subsidy from fired employees' taxes or entrepeneurs who go "John Galt lite" and shut down half their businesses to minimize their expenses in life. See this Yahoo Finance article below on Cap and Trade, "Winners and losers emerge in climate bill."Owners of large tracts of forest land also will get a lot of interest from the business community. Like farmers, environmental experts see them as a huge player in the carbon economy because of their natural ability to absorb carbon.Louis Blumberg,...(Read Full Post)