US Cap & Trade Update

With the midterm elections 39 weeks away, many lawmakers are avoiding controversial climate legislation and turning their attention to campaigning. A compromise bill being hashed out by Senators John Kerry, a Democrat, Lindsey Graham, a Republican, and Joe Lieberman, an independent, is not expected to be out before March. A "hybrid" bill, that would impose cap-and-trade on power plants and an emissions fee on other industrial sources of greenhouse gases, could break down resistance from lawmakers in states that produce oil and natural gas.

Meanwhile, Arizona has opted out of the Western Climate Initiative (WCI) which is set to kick off in 2012. To date, California is only one of seven western US states that has passed legislation enabling it to participate in the regional emissions trading scheme. The WCI consists of seven U.S. states and  four Canadian provinces and the group’s goal is to work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.  The WCI consists of Manitoba, Quebec, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.