Politicians Understand Cap Not Trade

The U.S. Federal government invented the concept of cap and trade by taking a financial instrument from the mortgage-backed securities market and applying it to air quality attainment for acid rain remediation. It worked. The concept was proposed by the U.S. delegation at the Rio Climate Convention in 1992 and was ironically opposed by the European Union at the time. Today, we are at a cross roads to create a very viable and effective environmental financial market for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Because this market is starting all over the world, the timing is now appropriate for the United States to lead the way once again. The real market for the abatement of CO2 and other greenhouse gases begins next January 1, 2008. The train has now arrived, and we need to get on board. We need to stop posturing that voluntary technology programs or voluntary carbon offsets will get us anywhere when see
greenhouse gas emissions rising each year in the United States. They are now estimated to rise by another 19 percent over 2000 levels by 2020 according to the U.S. government. This is on top on an annual increase of about 1 percent per year since the 1990s.