Hill Heat: Carbon Market Efficiency BoardScience Policy Legislation Actiontag:hillheat.org,2005:TypoTypo2013-10-06T02:10:26-04:00Brad Johnsonurn:uuid:c98fe66c-90b1-4a57-bceb-de96f43f34ac2007-07-30T13:14:00-04:002013-10-06T02:10:26-04:00Carbon Market Efficiency Board<p>Last week, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) presented the Containing and Managing Climate Change Costs Efficiently Act (<a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.1874:">S. 1874</a>), a piece of legislation authored by Joe Lieberman’s former environmental advisor, Timothy Profeta, who now heads the <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/">Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions</a> at Duke University.</p>
<p>The proposal would establish the <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/carboncosts/">Carbon Market Efficiency Board</a> which would oversee the emissions trading market established by cap-and-trade legislation. The board would operate much like the Federal Reserve Board, providing information on price and low-emission technology investment trends to Congress and the public, and it would adjust the price of emissions permits when a “market correction” is needed. The first measure is to expand companies’ ability to “bank” permits, or borrow permits against future year reductions. The second measure, to be used if high prices are not relieved by the first measure, is to add a slightly larger number of permits to the market. This temporary increase would be compensated for by reducing available permits in a later year, when more options have been developed.</p>
<p>Profeta <a href="">testified</a> about the proposal in last week’s hearing. His <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/carboncosts/carboncosts.pdf">white paper</a> goes into further detail.</p>
<p>The bill is intended to be folded into the Lieberman-Warner package to be presented as a discussion draft at the end of the week.</p>
<p>John Warner (R-Va.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) are cosponsoring the bill, in a bipartisan show of strength by pro-business Senators. [The <a href="http://www.capwiz.com/lcv/dbq/vote_info/?length=100&session=1092&chamber=S&command=results&sort=Score,Name&state=">League of Conservation Voters</a>/<a href="http://capwiz.com/chamber/scorecard/?chamber=S&session=1092&x=17&y=9">Chamber of Commerce</a> scores for the senators are: Warner 14%/100%, Graham 29%/92%, Landrieu 43%/75%, Lincoln 43%/67%. By way of comparison, Lieberman is 71%/44%.]</p><p>Last week, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) presented the Containing and Managing Climate Change Costs Efficiently Act (<a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.1874:">S. 1874</a>), a piece of legislation authored by Joe Lieberman’s former environmental advisor, Timothy Profeta, who now heads the <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/">Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions</a> at Duke University.</p>
<p>The proposal would establish the <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/carboncosts/">Carbon Market Efficiency Board</a> which would oversee the emissions trading market established by cap-and-trade legislation. The board would operate much like the Federal Reserve Board, providing information on price and low-emission technology investment trends to Congress and the public, and it would adjust the price of emissions permits when a “market correction” is needed. The first measure is to expand companies’ ability to “bank” permits, or borrow permits against future year reductions. The second measure, to be used if high prices are not relieved by the first measure, is to add a slightly larger number of permits to the market. This temporary increase would be compensated for by reducing available permits in a later year, when more options have been developed.</p>
<p>Profeta <a href="">testified</a> about the proposal in last week’s hearing. His <a href="http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/institute/carboncosts/carboncosts.pdf">white paper</a> goes into further detail.</p>
<p>The bill is intended to be folded into the Lieberman-Warner package to be presented as a discussion draft at the end of the week.</p>
<p>John Warner (R-Va.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) are cosponsoring the bill, in a bipartisan show of strength by pro-business Senators. [The <a href="http://www.capwiz.com/lcv/dbq/vote_info/?length=100&session=1092&chamber=S&command=results&sort=Score,Name&state=">League of Conservation Voters</a>/<a href="http://capwiz.com/chamber/scorecard/?chamber=S&session=1092&x=17&y=9">Chamber of Commerce</a> scores for the senators are: Warner 14%/100%, Graham 29%/92%, Landrieu 43%/75%, Lincoln 43%/67%. By way of comparison, Lieberman is 71%/44%.]</p>
Responses to the proposal:
<ul>
<li><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/intersection/2007/07/a_promising_bipartisan_proposa.php">Sheril R. Kirshenbaum’s praise</a> at the Intersection science blog</li>
<li><a href="http://openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=455">Matt Stoller’s criticism</a> at Open Left</li>
<li><a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/7/24/15505/0806">Joseph Romm’s praise</a> at Grist, with excerpts from the Greenwire piece that has favorable quotes from the <a href="http://nrdc.org/globalwarming/"><span class="caps">NRDC</span></a></li>
<li><a href="http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/7/25/01948/0376">David Roberts’s positive summary</a> at Grist</li>
</ul>