Environmental Leader

The regional carbon markets in the U.S. may join forces before the launch of a federal greenhouse gas legislation, reported Reuters. New national climate legislation could cut greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, and establish a cap-and-trade system for carbon dioxide and national standards for renewable energy.

Peter Iwanowicz, the head of New York’s climate change office, said at a recent Carbon TradeEx conference that the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) could link over time with cap-and-trade carbon markets developing in the West, known as the Western Climate Initiative, and in the Midwest, reported Reuters. He also told Reuters that RGGI is looking into expanding regulation of carbon emissions in sectors beyond power generation.

RGGI has been in a leader in showing carbon markets how to auction carbon permits to industry, rather than giving them away — a policy that helped create a surplus of permits in Europe’s carbon market, according to Reuters. RGGI recently raised more than $117 million at an auction of more than 33 million carbon allowances.