Dec

5

RGGI States Complete Sixth Successful CO2 Auction

Filed Under RGGI, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, US Carbon Market, US Carbon Trading | Comments Off

The states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) today announced the results of the sixth regional auction of carbon dioxide (CO2) allowances, held Wednesday, December 2nd. The auction yielded $61,587,120.90, increasing the total amount of proceeds from RGGI auctions to more than $494.4 million.

All of the 28,591,698 allowances for the 2009 vintage offered in Wednesday’s auction sold at a price of $2.05. Unsold allowances for the 2012 vintage year may be sold in future auctions according to each state’s regulations. Read more

Jul

13

Obama’s carbon emission bill to licence pollution and fraud

Filed Under Obama Cap and Trade, US Carbon Market, US Carbon Trading | Comments Off

On May 15, HR 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was introduced in the US House of Representatives, purportedly “To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy”.

In fact, it’s to let corporate polluters reap huge windfall profits by charging consumers more for energy and fuel, and create a new bubble through carbon trading derivatives speculation.  Read more

Jul

2

Coalition for the Green Bank Congratulates House Members for Passage of American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009

Filed Under ACES Bill, US Carbon Cap and Trade, US Carbon Market, US Carbon Trading | Comments Off

The Coalition for the Green Bank today congratulates Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Representative Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Chris Van Hollen, and Representatives Edward Markey, John D Dingell and Jay Inslee on the passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454), an Act that will steer America towards a clean and renewable energy future.

In particular, the Coalition congratulates Representative Van Hollen for his work as the author of the original Green Bank Act proposed in March. Represented in the American Clean Energy and Security Act as the Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA), the Green Bank will serve as an essential catalyst for the Read more

Jun

29

American Iron and Steel Institute Says Climate Bill as Passed by House Puts Steel Industry at Competitive Disadvantage; Bill Must Have Important Modif

Filed Under ACES Act, American Clean Energy and Security Act, US Carbon Cap and Trade, US Carbon Market, US Carbon Trading | Comments Off

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) expressed its disappointment today over the House passage of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

“We believe this bill has moved at a rushed pace that has not allowed for full debate of provisions that are critical to the steel industry, which was clearly underscored by the fact that the bill passed in the House by only seven votes,” said Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO. “The bill, as passed, will need important modifications as it moves through the Senate.

“We appreciate the hard work of Congressmen Doyle and Inslee and we look forward to continuing our work with them as this legislation moves through the process,” said Gibson. “However, we can say - with certainty - that if this bill is enacted as it presently stands, U.S. steelmakers and our workers will be at a significant competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace. Several modifications must be made to achieve the bill’s stated purpose of avoiding job loss and emission migration to overseas markets.”

One area of the bill that needs to be modified, Gibson said, relates to recognizing the challenges of energy intensive industries.

“With this bill, all forms of energy - coal, natural gas, biomass and electricity - have the potential to suffer a dramatic cost increase due to fuel switching, deployment of waste gas capture/regeneration technology, carbon capture and sequestration technology, and wind, solar and other clean energy technologies. Energy intensive industries should be rebated allowances to recover consequential cost increases resulting from this legislation, and not just emissions costs,” he said.

“Currently, the bill does not contain a meaningful border adjustment mechanism and has a significant lag before any assessment of comparable action by our trading partners is made,” Gibson said. “The legislation would clearly be inadequate to ensure that the new costs placed on steel and other trade-sensitive manufacturers would also be borne by imports,” he said. “As currently written, the border mechanism would be wholly ineffective and would simply lead to the substitution of imported products (from countries with no or far lesser environmental standards) for domestic production - undermining both the environmental objective of the bill and the competitiveness of U.S. products.”

Another area of concern in the House bill, Gibson said, is the arbitrary formula used to lower the emissions allowance schedule to energy-intensive manufacturers below 15 percent after beginning in 2015. This deprives energy-intensive manufacturers of nearly one billion allowances over the life of the program, he said. Energy-intensive manufacturers should receive the same emissions allowance schedule that is applied to every other recipient of emission allowances, he noted.

AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the material of choice. AISI plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 24 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. AISI’s member companies represent over 75 percent of both U.S. and North American steel capacity. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI’s Web site at www.steel.org.

SOURCE American Iron and Steel Institute

Mar

28

Carbon Market Turf Wars

Filed Under Carbon Finance, US Carbon Market, US Carbon Trading | Comments Off

Bloomberg has a must read article about the jockeying behind (and in front) the scenes over who will ultimately control the potentailly $1 trillion dollar US carbon market.

Everyone will want a piece of this market, from bureaucrats to Wall Street, and especially Wall Street since the credit bubble that helped them rake in billions and billions of profits has popped.  I actually have a website (still in its infancy much like the market) that follows what I think will be the next great financial market, carbon!  When we start hearing terms like structured carbon products, or what I am predicting - Collateralized Carbon Obligations, then we’ll know its time to run for the doors.  Read more

Mar

14

Paterson Administration Tells Groups There Is No Agreement to Re-Open Climate Plan Rule

Filed Under RGGI, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, US Carbon Markets, US Carbon Trading | Comments Off

Environmental & Energy Advocates Call on Governor to Keep 1st U.s. Plan On-Track to Cut Power Plant Pollution

 

At a meeting with New York Governor David Paterson’s top staff on Thursday, environmental and energy groups were told the administration has not made a deal with power producers to re-open regulations designed to guide the state’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a 10-state plan to reduce global warming pollution. In the meeting with Larry Schwartz, Secretary to the Governor, and Dennis Whalen, the Director of State Operations, the groups were told the Governor has made no commitment to reopen the RGGI rule at this time. “We respect Governor Paterson and his staff. The Governor has generally been a strong supporter of environmental and consumer issues-and we want him to remain that way,” said James Van Nostrand, Pace Energy and Climate Center. “We hope that upon further review the Governor and his staff will see that New York jobs and the New York economy will suffer if he requires consumers to subsidize more free allowances for electric generators.”   Read more

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