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| Whether Congress Acts or Not, Carbon Trading May Become a Reality |
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Carbon trading has long been put forward as the most viable solution to "encourage" organizations to reduce their carbon footprints. Within a freely moving economy, it is said that should carbon have an effective price and the government artificially control its "availability," then the markets would automatically control its level of use.
Carbon trading has long been put forward as the most viable solution to "encourage" organizations to reduce their carbon footprints. Within a freely moving economy, it is said that should carbon have an effective price and the government artificially control its "availability," then the markets would automatically control its level of use. We're yet to see the concept of carbon trading emerge in the United States, even though the United Kingdom, as an example, is already moving ahead aggressively. Within that country, the British government has introduced a scheme to force the largest emitters of greenhouse gas to trade. It will be sometime before we see the outcome and the success of the scheme, but many organizations and businesses around the world are looking at it carefully. Pres. Obama has already shown his willingness to "get his hands dirty" when it comes to energy saving and carbon emissions. He has already issued a presidential order mandating that all federal agencies become sustainable and that, for the first time, these agencies calculate the actual size of the own carbon footprints. Pres. Obama and his administration is somewhat critical of Congress as energy related legislation seems to be stuck in neutral. The House of Representatives certainly passed the ACES Act in 2009, but the Senate has so far been very slow to move its own version forward. Will the administration consider its own action, if Congress does not act by itself? The Clean Air Act says that the Environmental Protection Agency has fairly widespread powers when it comes to the control of carbon emissions. In addition, the Supreme Court has found that these emissions are a hazard to public health and due to this finding, many experts believe that the administration could, by itself, introduce some form of carbon trading, whether mandated or not. According to a senior policy analyst at the EPA, the agency "strongly prefers" that Congress deals with new laws surrounding greenhouse gases. However, the agency may introduce a carbon trading system on its own and this has many organizations paying attention, as the first shoots of spring are revealed. In the 2007 Supreme Court decision on the scope of the Clean Air Act, the EPA was given additional authority and within a budget request to Congress currently being considered, funds are allocated to investigate "market oriented mechanisms," in the overall fight against carbon emission pollution. If the Senate does not move forward aggressively and work with the House of Representatives to pass some kind of cap and trade bill in 2010, many believe that the EPA would move forward with its own carbon trading scheme. If it does, however, it seems also certain that there will be numerous judicial challenges to the position. About the Author: Daniel Stouffer has a lot of information about carbon trading and how a visit to www.verisae.com will benefit you. |