If Governor Martin O’Malley gets his way, Maryland may soon lead America in the fight against climate change and transition toward a clean energy future.
Today, O’Malley announced an aggressive plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions 25% and boost renewable energy 25% by 2020 – both up from current 20% targets.
A World Bank report finds more than 40 national and 20 sub-national government jurisdictions are either implementing or considering carbon pricing mechanisms.
Collectively these systems cover 10 gigatons of annual CO2 emissions – equal to roughly 20% of global emissions.
For carbon markets across the world it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Plummeting European Union carbon prices following a key EU vote seem to demonstrate in the clearest terms that cap and trade is doomed to fail.
But declaring the death of carbon markets and cap and trade policy over Europe’s struggles is a knee-jerk reaction which overlooks significant developments for carbon trading around the world – ones which could ultimately rescue the EU and cement cap and trade as a global climate change solution.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) held its 19th auction of CO2 allowances late last week and sold nearly 38 million allowances at a clearing price of $2.80, generating $105.9 million in revenue.
California has set the date and details for a second CO2 emissions allowance auction to be held February 2013, under the state’s cap-and-trade system.
Northeastern states participating in America’s first carbon cap and trade program have outperformed the rest of the country in GDP growth and reduction in global warming pollution. […]
A new report says New Jersey risks hundreds of millions in future revenue by withdrawing from RGGI.
Driven by the growing number of energy-efficiency standards in states around the U.S., ratepayer budgets for efficiency programs climbed to record levels in 2011, to $6.8 billion. That’s a 25% increase over 2010 investments, putting the country on track to invest roughly $12 billion by 2020 […]
Here’s one last year-end round-up, a good one on U.S. climate policy from the World Resources Institute that I figured I had to share: by Kevin Kennedy As the year winds down, it’s a good time to take stock of climate policy in the United States. Here’s a quick round … [continued]
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of the Republican party’s many two-faced liars (who says he is promoting renewable energy but is, in fact, doing everything he can to fight its growth), recently announced that he was pulling the state out of the Northeast’s climate change and clean energy cap-and-trade program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). Well, it turns out, Governor Christie may not have the power to do so soon… but it’s going to be a close call.
