Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Is a Cap and Trade Carbon System the Right Approach?


By Daniel Stouffer

Ever since the slow realization set in and we began to understand that our conspicuous consumption over the decades has led to serious damage to our environment, as a society we have been looking for ways to turn it around. Certainly, the problem is gigantic as we are very reliant on the use of fossil fuels for our energy. The subsequent emission of dangerous greenhouse gases has caused a considerable problem and must be addressed.

It is unlikely that consumers in general would take sufficient steps by themselves to cause significant reversal to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. It will be necessary for governments to take stringent action to force a change and to curtail the amount of carbon emissions. Within the United Kingdom, the cap and trade carbon system is now in place, which will ultimately drive down the production of greenhouse gases by effectively forcing the largest consumers to change their ways.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment is legislation aimed squarely at the largest producers in the United Kingdom. This cap and trade carbon system will place a limit on the total amount of carbon emissions and force individual organizations to trade between themselves and with the government, effectively reducing the overall volume emitted.

A cap and trade carbon system is a development of a scheme that has been in existence for some time now. The concept of setting a limit and forcing those consumers to trade in the marketplace to achieve overall reduction is not a new one, but the establishment of a commodity price for carbon emissions is. Many eyes are on the British initiative to see how it works, as it is likely to be adopted in similar format in many other countries.

According to the British government, there are approximately 5000 businesses that will be forced to participate in the cap and trade carbon system when it gets under way soon. These organizations will now be under a lot of pressure as they have no choice but to improve the efficiencies of their organization or face a financial hit from the increased cost of the carbon allowances that they must purchase. In addition, the government will be communicating the results of the program to society as a whole, creating potentially negative connotations for underperformance.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment has set goals of reducing the overall level of emissions each year up until 2050, by which time the intention is that carbon emissions will have been reduced by 80%. It is felt that this kind of aggressive action is necessary to ensure that even more serious and potentially devastating damage to our environment and climate is contained.

While you would have thought that the United States could lead any initiatives aimed at addressing climate change, there is still some confusion surrounding whether a similar cap and trade carbon system, as initiated by the British, will be adopted in this country.

Some critics maintain that a cap and trade carbon system is not the right approach, but it is unrealistic to expect individuals or corporations to take the degree of initiative required to make fundamental changes without such governmental interaction.

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