Carbonfund Tells US “Stay Away From Cancun”

This map shows the partners in the WCI, alone. Anchoring the WCI is California. There are 7 US states and 4 Canadian provinces partnering in WCI, and the neighboring observer states might get dragged in as policy pulls them. For example, RES (Renewable Energy Standards) policy in California has created wind farms in nearby windy states Idaho and Wyoming even though they themselves have no policy.

These are some of the most productive economies in the US and Canada. California , for example got 40% of every VC dollar invested in US green tech, since passing AB32 in 2006.

The 10 Northeast states participating in RGGI have already begun to reduce emissions from electricity production. Under the plan, for one example, New Jersey offers a SREC program for solar that rivals Germany’s feed-in tariff in payouts. Four RGGI states have now reduced greenhouse gas emissions to below 1990 levels.

There is a carbon market in Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and Canada, and soon China. If regional US carbon markets like RGGI and the WCI were to trade with these – the world might effectively bypass the crippled US as a whole.

Susan Kraemer@Twitter