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 yet to become a reality in the United States, but looking across the Atlantic Ocean we can see that it is moving ahead aggressively in the United Kingdom. The British government introduced the scheme and as such, the largest emitters of greenhouse gases must trade for the right to emit. The scheme is only just rolling out and it is certain to take some time before we will see its impact, but governments and businesses around the world are looking with keen interest.
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.
The Obama administration has become increasingly critical of Congress, as legislators “drag their feet” when it comes to emissions control and energy use. The House of Representatives may well have passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, but the Senate is not so sure about its contents. As such, the administration is considering whether it can move forward by itself under existing laws.
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.
One of the EPA’s senior policy analysts has indicated that the agency might “strongly prefer” that Congress deals with new laws surrounding greenhouse gases, but reserves the right for the agency to consider its own powers. It is possible that the agency may introduce a cap and trade emissions trading scheme on its own and this is making many organizations take note.
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.
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