Comments on "Cap-and-trade gains traction" from John Lothian Newsletter

Lawmakers plan to tackle a daunting task in the coming months: putting a price on the right to emit greenhouse gases. Those gases -- primarily carbon dioxide -- are linked to warming temperatures and changing climate patterns across the globe. President Barack Obama and key members of Congress see emissions reductions as a necessary step after years of inaction.  Earlier this month, a coalition of corporations and environmental groups that includes the DuPont Co. offered its own input: a 24-page proposal outlining a model regulatory scheme. The document describes a "cap-and-trade" program, in which emissions from greenhouse gas-intensive sectors would be capped at a certain level and companies would receive allowances to release the gases.  Companies who cut emissions below the capped level could sell their allowances on an open market. The goal would be to slash emissions 80 percent by 2050, compared with 2005 levels.  "We're quite confident that it's something that the U.S. and global economies can do in a very manageable way, and if done carefully, create some new market opportunities," said Michael Parr, senior manager of government affairs for DuPont, a founding member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (US CAP).

 

If you still think the U.S. is way behind on fighting climate change, think again.  The U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), including CCX members NRG, Ford and DuPont, has joined the growing chorus of economic leaders who agree that managing greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade is inextricably linked to America’s energy future.  In fact, at the Chicago Climate Exchange, we currently have 600 million metric tons of CO₂e under our voluntary but legally binding cap-and-trade system – more than any country in the world – proving over the last five years that cap-and-trade does work and America’s leading corporations are ready to embrace it. 

-- Dr. Richard Sandor, Chairman & CEO, Chicago Climate Exchange.

 
Market-based solutions are the best to manage society’s challenges.  A carbon tax misses the point.  CCX has been on the point of promoting a market based solution for global warming and now one of its founding members, DuPont, is a part of a coalition of corporations and environmental groups proposing a legally binding U.S. cap-and-trade market-based solution.  All of this is an example of true environmental, economic and regulatory leadership; balanced and complementary.

 -- John Lothian