Only a local government could have given this idea wings, he added. "Nobody else spends their days in the mundane world of land-secured financing districts."
New England offers another example of a regional program shaping national policy.
In 2009 ten states agreed to cap their emissions and created the nation's first greenhouse-gas-emissions trading program. It auctioned allowances, created a carbon market and to date has sent $582 million into the coffers of participating states.
But before this started, the only example of a carbon cap-and-trade program was Europe's, which had seen wild price swings and windfall profits for utilities. The stability of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, as New England's cap-and-trade program is known, silenced those critics and placed it in the foreground of the national discussion on how to run these policies," said Tom Tietenberg, emeritus professor of economics at Colby College in Maine.
"It's been one of the primary reasons auctions are now prominently part of the (climate) bill." Politicians, he added, have no problem spotting RGGI's revenue. "It reduces the negative impact of a carbon bill."
Of course, there are tensions: RGGI has strong regional support in part because it funnels cash back to state coffers. While some states have siphoned that revenue to patch deficits, others – such as Maine – have used it to make significant gains in energy efficiency, far outpacing federal efforts.
But the Senate climate bill as drafted voids regional emissions schemes like RGGI and state efforts like California's. That has raised hackles from local leaders who want to retain control over their own programs and revenue.
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Add CommentIf Cisco DeVries would hit these states that use fossil fuel to produce power and teach them a better way and implement laws in those states, we would not have to wait 50 years to start cutting and cleaning up greenhouse gases. We could start living in a clean environment much faster. It would be good to drink clean stream water, breathe clean air, and live on clean land again like I did when I was a child before all this greed and destruction began.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisA better title would be: "Local Governments Lead Efforts to Combat Global Warming".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCombating 'Climate Change' would be particularly futile, unless we can stop the progression of time - right now!
If you don't like the weather in (name of place here), stick around - it'll change!
vendicar9 - Your more intelligent remarks are far more humorous than I could ever hope to hope for! What a moron - get it?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne would think that the city government of Berkeley has everything under control so that they can focuus on wider issues than mundane things like city services and budget managment. However that seems not to be the case.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrom the Berkely Daily Planet, in an article entitled Berkeley's Budget Nightmare, it states that "After years of high spending and high local taxation, the City of Berkeley is facing an annual operating deficit of 16.5M which will grow exponentially unless drastic measures are taken. Clearly this is a terrible situation for the City, its residents, and its taxpayers."
"From the Berkely Daily Planet, in an article entitled Berkeley's Budget Nightmare, it states that "After years of high spending and high local taxation, the City of Berkeley is facing an annual operating deficit of 16.5M which will grow exponentially unless drastic measures are taken. " - Soccer Dad
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe entire American State is a fiscal basketcase.
Uncle Sam is morally, ethically, intellectually and fiscally bankrupt.
Why wait for local governments to make the first move?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe only way to tackle climate change is to work in industry on research and development of alternative solutions.
Energy company lobbys influence politicians who become mere puppets. Rather than just griping, readers would be well advised to roll their slieves up and discover new green solutions.