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Carbon Dioxide Up For Sale
Connecticut, Nine Other States Holding First Auction Of Emissions 'Allowances'
By DAVID FUNKHOUSER | Courant Staff Writer
March 18, 2008
For the first time in the U.S., carbon dioxide goes on sale in September â and the bidding will start at $1.86 a ton.
A consortium of 10 states, including Connecticut, said Monday it will hold the first auction of carbon emissions "allowances" on Sept. 10, part of a plan to curb greenhouse gases from the region's power plants and slow global warming.
Subsequent auctions will be held quarterly, and power plant operators â who until now have been able to emit without paying â will have until the end of 2011 to acquire enough credits to account for all of their CO{-2} emissions.
At the same time, the states in the consortium will reduce the amount of emissions allowed. The cap will decline by 10 percent over 10 years, and the number of permits auctioned will shrink.
"As the cap comes down, permits become more scarce, and [that] makes clean generation more competitive than dirty generation," said Derek Murrow, policy director for Environment Northeast, a nonprofit advocacy group.
The exact impact on consumers is unclear â by one estimate, less than 1 percent of the retail price of energy. But money from the auctions will finance other programs to encourage energy efficiency and greater use of renewable energy, which in the long run could lessen the impact on residents' pocketbooks.
"It's a new model not just for the region but for the nation," said state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy. "It's a way we can make greenhouse gas reductions achievable but do it in way that costs are contained, that protects the interests of the consumer."
Power plants are a major source of the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are contributing to global warming. Electricity generation contributed 22 percent of the emissions in Connecticut in 2001, according to the state's latest assessment. That compares to 40 percent from transportation and 19 percent from residential activity.
The states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have agreed to auction off nearly all of the allotment of carbon allowances, totaling about 188 million tons of CO{-2} in the first year.
The consortium includes all of New England, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
Murrow said the regional plan "sets an important precedent for national action." California has approved a cap-and-trade program but has yet to implement it.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and Virginia Sen. John Warner have proposed a bill to set up a similar cap-and-trade system nationwide for electricity generation, transportation and manufacturing.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctcarbon0318.artmar18,0,5945522.story
Our world is changing Folks....this is only the beginning.
Connecticut, Nine Other States Holding First Auction Of Emissions 'Allowances'
By DAVID FUNKHOUSER | Courant Staff Writer
March 18, 2008
For the first time in the U.S., carbon dioxide goes on sale in September â and the bidding will start at $1.86 a ton.
A consortium of 10 states, including Connecticut, said Monday it will hold the first auction of carbon emissions "allowances" on Sept. 10, part of a plan to curb greenhouse gases from the region's power plants and slow global warming.
Subsequent auctions will be held quarterly, and power plant operators â who until now have been able to emit without paying â will have until the end of 2011 to acquire enough credits to account for all of their CO{-2} emissions.
At the same time, the states in the consortium will reduce the amount of emissions allowed. The cap will decline by 10 percent over 10 years, and the number of permits auctioned will shrink.
"As the cap comes down, permits become more scarce, and [that] makes clean generation more competitive than dirty generation," said Derek Murrow, policy director for Environment Northeast, a nonprofit advocacy group.
The exact impact on consumers is unclear â by one estimate, less than 1 percent of the retail price of energy. But money from the auctions will finance other programs to encourage energy efficiency and greater use of renewable energy, which in the long run could lessen the impact on residents' pocketbooks.
"It's a new model not just for the region but for the nation," said state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Gina McCarthy. "It's a way we can make greenhouse gas reductions achievable but do it in way that costs are contained, that protects the interests of the consumer."
Power plants are a major source of the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists say are contributing to global warming. Electricity generation contributed 22 percent of the emissions in Connecticut in 2001, according to the state's latest assessment. That compares to 40 percent from transportation and 19 percent from residential activity.
The states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative have agreed to auction off nearly all of the allotment of carbon allowances, totaling about 188 million tons of CO{-2} in the first year.
The consortium includes all of New England, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
Murrow said the regional plan "sets an important precedent for national action." California has approved a cap-and-trade program but has yet to implement it.
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman and Virginia Sen. John Warner have proposed a bill to set up a similar cap-and-trade system nationwide for electricity generation, transportation and manufacturing.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctcarbon0318.artmar18,0,5945522.story
Our world is changing Folks....this is only the beginning.
