Northeastern states make carbon polluters pay

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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601130&sid=aNHuh.AGzbfs&refer=environment

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- The price for permits allowing power plants to emit carbon dioxide in 10 U.S. eastern states rose to $3.51 a ton, according to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The price in the prior auction was $3.38 a ton. The auction, held March 18, raised $117.2 million on the sale of 33.7 million permits, according to a statement today from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, which runs the 10-state program.

Speculation that the Obama administration will adopt a nationwide cap-and-trade program has kept prices above the minimum of $1.86 a ton set by the regional group. The states agreed to use the proceeds to fund emission-reduction programs. “The premium over the floor that we’re seeing comes from speculation that these credits may eventually get folded into a federal program,” Mike Intrator, a portfolio manager for NatSource LLC in New York, said in an interview before the results were released. The states want to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, the most prevalent of the greenhouse gases, which scientists blame for global warming.

The states in the program, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, have set an annual carbon dioxide emission cap on the region’s power plants of 188.1 million tons for the years 2009 to 2014.Emissions from the states totaled 171 million tons in 2007, implying a surplus of permits covering more than 16 million tons. The group hasn’t released data for 2008 emissions.

Oslo-based Point Carbon, a research and news service, estimated last week that the surplus probably increased to 31.8 million tons last year as the recession deepened. RGGI states sold 44.1 million carbon dioxide permits for a total of $145.1 million in September and December auctions. The auction on Sept. 25 brought a price of $3.07 a ton.

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U.S power generators spewed more than 2.8 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere last year. China topped that with 3.1 billion tons. Our local power plant dumped 750,000 tons of carbon last year, while a huge power station in Monroe County, Georgia poured out 32 million tons. You can find out how much carbon your power generator is contributing by going to http://carma.org/