10/01/2008 08:56 AM

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: October 1, 2008

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RGGI aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions through a cap-and-trade program. Under the initiative, the ten participating states will stabilize carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector at capped levels. The states will then reduce the cap 10% by 2018, with 2.5% decreases each year between 2015 and 2018.

Auctioning the allowances allows the states to invest the revenues in programs that reduce energy demand and the use of fossil fuels. The next auction will be held in December of this year, and all ten states are expected to offer allowances for sale in the first 2009 auction and in quarterly auctions thereafter. See the RGGI press release detailing the results of the auction (PDF 39 KB) and the RGGI Web site.

Also last week, the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) announced its own plan for a regional market-based cap-and-trade program for the seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces participating in the initiative. The governors of Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington; and the premiers of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% below 2005 levels by 2020. The plan sets a lowest common denominator for the states and provinces, which can each exceed the requirements of the plan. See the WCI Web site and press release (PDF 149 KB).

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Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). 

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