Democratic members of the Assembly, who last year opened their Christmas gifts from Speaker Fabian Nuñez to find a bottle of expensive wine were not quite as overwhelmed by this year's gift.

Nuñez received much criticism in the press after his campaign finance reports revealed a pattern of lavish purchases while on trips to Europe, including $90 bottles of wine. Perhaps to blunt such criticism, Nuñez recently sold $3,238 worth of a second wine purchase to the Democratic Party, which reportedly intended to serve it at a future fund-raiser.

With the wine gone, what's a speaker to do to keep the members of his caucus happy at Christmastime?

Democratic Assembly members who returned to the Capitol Monday for a special vote on healthcare reform unwrapped the speaker's solution. He bought them carbon credits, with framed certificates to document the purchase.