Carbon cap-and-trade efforts are becoming one long chain of unintended consequences. To whit: Greenpeace released a report arguing that allowing official trade in carbon credits representing forest preservation would crash the price of carbon by up to 75%.

Beijing's pollution isn't a secret. But as part of its bid to secure the Olympic contract, the world's 13th filthiest city (according to a World Bank study) embarked on a massive cleanup to improve air quality, sanitize drinking water and purify the rivers in time for the games, which began on Thursday. New sports stadiums were built with solar power and other energy-saving technologies, while new public transit systems were introduced to the streets. But can Beijing really claim this summer's games are green?