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 is yet to become a reality in the United States. Within the United Kingdom, a scheme is already in place, affecting the largest emitters of greenhouse gas, initiated by the British government at record speed. It is likely that it will take some time for us to see and measure the success of the scheme, but much attention is being paid by governments and businesses around the world.
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 Environmental Protection Agency has widespread powers under the Clean Air Act when it comes to the control of carbon emissions. When the Supreme Court found that emissions were a hazard to public health, this led many experts to believe that it might be possible for the administration to introduce some form of carbon trading scheme, whether Congress acted 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.
Many feel that, should Congress not pass a cap and trade Bill in 2010, that the EPA will move forward with a carbon trading scheme of its own, even though it is fairly sure that there would be numerous judicial challenges to it.
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