California’s cap-and-trade program, known as “AB32,” is moving closer to its first binding auction. Mandated as part of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, it requires greenhouse gas emissions in California to be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050. Recently, the state modified its greenhouse [...]
Archive for the ‘Carbon Markets’ Category
27 Apr
The Economics of Hype: Rio+20
In June, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Known as Rio+20 because it aims to address similar issues to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, its official discussions will focus on building a green economy to lift people out of poverty and improving international coordination for sustainable [...]
24 Feb
A Trade War at 30,000 Feet
The U.S. joined twenty-three other nations on Wednesday in signing the so-called Moscow Joint Declaration to protest the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which in 2008 was extended to include aviation. It is the latest show of American opposition to the scheme, following a joint letter from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico to the International [...]
5 May
Environmentalists vs…Carbon Cap-and-Trade?
A recent Update from ML Strategies (a consulting affiliate of law firm Mintz Levin) tipped us off to an interesting case that pits California’s proposed carbon cap-and-trade system against two environmental justice groups. Environmentalists were largely united in their excitement over the passage of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (more popularly known as AB 32), [...]
20 Jan
CFTC Releases Report on Oversight of Carbon Markets
By now, many of you have heard that the CFTC has released, on behalf of the Interagency Working Group for the Study on Oversight of Carbon Markets, the report mandated by Section 750 of the Dodd-Frank Act (you can skip to page 374). But have you read it? According to E2 Wire, the report stresses [...]
