ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) expanded from nine to ten member states with New Jersey’s re-entry after almost a decade. Virginia’s Clean Economy Act sets the state to link with the compact in 2021, and Pennsylvania is drafting regulations in accordance with a 2019 executive order that commits the state to join the compact.
State-level activity on emission-trading programs and carbon pricing is ramping up as more jurisdictions embrace policy goals to transition to a lower-carbon power system and economy.
As legislatures adjourn, U.S. states take stock of their progress on expanding clean energy and climate policies. Measures to tackle greenhouse gas emissions have long been a political lightning rod, but mechanisms like carbon pricing are coming up more regularly in legislative sessions and evolving to play a key role in the shift to a low-carbon economy.
As more U.S. states look to expand clean energy and climate policies, carbon trading is evolving to play a key role in the shift to a greener economy.
The eighteenth quarterly carbon auction held by California and Quebec sold all 80,847,404 carbon permits offered for current emissions at $15.73, above the floor price of $15.62, according to the results released on Feb. 27 by the California Air Resources Board. The auction sold about 66 percent of the permits offered for 2022 emissions at…...
The Virginia legislature approved a bill that would prohibit the governor or any state agency from participating in a regional carbon market, without a two-thirds majority vote from both the legislative chambers. The state is considering its own proposed cap-and-trade rule designed to link with the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, the nation’s…...
Measures for carbon emission pricing and studies have so far this year surfaced in at least nine states, spanning from politically moderate Montana to progressive New York. Hawaii has a proposal to investigate how to implement a carbon tax while limiting its impact on lower income residents. In Oregon, legislation has been introduced for a cap-and-trade system to implement economy-wide carbon pricing. California is considering a bill that seeks a mechanism for assessing a carbon tax on retail products. Connecticut is considering a proposal for a regional collaborative on assessing such a fee.
The Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction unveiled legislation on Feb. 4 that would establish the Oregon Climate Action Program to place a cap on greenhouse gas emissions for entities whose annual emissions exceed 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The bill would set an annually declining emissions budget, starting in 2021 to put the…...
Montana House Lawmaker Mary Dunwell, a Democrat, introduced legislation on Jan. 14 that would impose a carbon tax of $10 per metric ton on large emissions sources from 2020, increasing annually by $1, plus the rate of inflation. The bill would set an emissions reduction goal of 25 percent by 2035, and 50 percent by…...
Democratic Governor Tom Wolf issued an executive order on Jan. 8 requiring the state to work toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2025, and 80 percent by 2050, relative to 2005 levels. By setting goals in line with the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Pennsylvania joins a growing number of states reacting to President…...
New York State Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, a Democrat, introduced legislation on Jan. 2 that would impose a carbon tax of no less than $35 per ton on the distribution or sale of carbon-based fuels, increasing annually by $15 to a maximum of $185. Under the bill, 60 percent of the proceeds from the tax would be…...
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection proposed to set an initial carbon dioxide cap at 18 million tons in 2020 for the electricity generation sector when the state officially becomes a member of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first mandatory cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Dec. 17…...