(NY) State lawmakers in talks to lower cap on carbon emissions

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20120617/NEWS10/206170315/State-lawmakers-talks-lower-cap-carbon-emissions

[font face=Serif][font size=5]State lawmakers in talks to lower cap on carbon emissions[/font]
[font size=4]Proposal would set aside funds for communities where power plants close[/font]

9:50 PM, Jun. 17, 2012

[font size=3]ALBANY — State lawmakers are in talks over a plan to lower New York's cap on carbon emissions, a move that would likely boost costs for coal-fired power plants and revamp the state's participation in a regional climate-change program.

Under pressure from environmental groups, lawmakers and Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office have discussed lowering the limit through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a nine-state cap-and-trade program in which carbon allowances are auctioned off to power producers.

That would increase the price of the credits at auction, and the added revenue to the state would partially be set aside to assist communities that see power plants close as a result, according to bill language obtained by Gannett's Albany Bureau.

"One of the most serious things that has been looked at this year is adjusting the cap, and by adjusting the cap the credits themselves will regain value," said Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, a Kingston Democrat who chairs the chamber's energy committee. "How serious it is, whether those negotiations have produced any results, that's another question."

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[hrmjustin]

1. I am glad I voted for Cuomo. n/t

[HockeyMom]

2. Wish I still lived in New York

my birthplace, and home for 58 years. Florida SUCKS. Hat's off to my fellow New Yorkers, in so many ways.

[hrmjustin]

3. I feel bad for FL, you guys got Scott.

He is scary.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. This Week in Clean Economy: Northeast States Bucking Carbon Emissions Trend

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120420/this-week-clean-economy-cap-and-trade-regional-greenhouse-gas-initative-carbon-emissions-new-jersey-global-warming

[font face=Serif][font size=5]This Week in Clean Economy: Northeast States Bucking Carbon Emissions Trend[/font]

[font size=4]Study finds that cap-and-trade and other clean energy policies have helped Northeastern states cut CO2 emissions faster than the rest of the nation.[/font]

By Maria Gallucci, InsideClimate News | Apr 20, 2012

[font size=3]America's greenhouse gas emissions are headed up again, driven by a recovering economy, federal government data show. The Northeast may be able to buck that trend thanks in part to cap-and-trade, the controversial system for curbing global warming gases that Congress and many state governments scorned in recent years.

According to a recent study, cap-and-trade and other measures to combat climate change and stimulate demand for renewable energy helped 10 Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states cut per-capita emissions of carbon dioxide 20 percent faster than the rest of the nation between 2000 and 2009.

"All of these efforts are bearing fruit," Ken Kimmell, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, told InsideClimate News. "We very much expect that that progress will continue," as the economy gains strength, he said.

Massachusetts belongs to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the first and only mandatory cap-and-trade scheme in America. Cap-and-trade creates long-term regulatory certainty for utilities to switch from fossil fuels to clean energy.

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