Want to Buy Some Pollution?

03/15/08

Want to Buy Some Pollution?

LATER this year, Massachusetts and other Northeastern states will hold the nation’s first auction of greenhouse gas emissions permits. Congress should take note: this market-based, technology-neutral auction is a model for how to encourage power generators to limit their emissions. And it could provide the foundation for a federal-state partnership to revolutionize energy use.

Auctions make sense. When Europe first tried regulating greenhouse gases under a cap-and-trade program, in 2005, it gave away, or “grandfathered,” emissions permits to its power generators, which made modest changes in their operations and then sold the permits to others at a premium. The result: windfall profits for the power companies. Europe is now switching to emissions auctions and plans to finance programs promoting climate protection, economic growth and energy security with the proceeds.
...
Here in Massachusetts, we have cut the annual growth in electricity demand by nearly one-third. Through rebates, incentives and low-interest loans, we’ve helped business and residential customers reduce their energy consumption and save money at the same time. As a result, Massachusetts has one of the highest gross state products per unit of energy used in the country.

By Ian Bowles, secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts.
FOR FULL OP-ED GO TO:
The New York Times www.NYTimes.com
Op-Ed published March 15, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/opinion/15bowles.html?th&emc=th

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Environmental Valuation & Cost-Benefit News

Environmental Valuation & Cost Benefit News covers legal, academic, and regulatory developments pertaining to the valuation of environmental amenities and disamenities, such as clean air, trees, parks, congestion, and noise. We apprise the reader about ways in which costs and benefits are measured, and the results of empirical studies. We hope that this information will allow public and private organizations to comprehend the risks and benefits of various actions, help disputants to resolve conflicts equitably and efficiently, and improve the quality of public policies. We will only discuss issues related to the empirical quantification of private and social costs and benefits and damages, and summarize information from daily newspapers, academic journals, legal publications, court decisions, professional newsletters commissioned studies, and on-line services. This newsletter is dedicated to the principal that all policies place values upon life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We believe that more information, explicit specification of assumptions, and rigorous analysis can help our society to better meet these ends. This site will increasingly serve, in conjunction with others, as a valuation database. We will include a wide range of studies, including non-environmental reports, because omission of a factor effectively values it at zero, and biases decisions. Heavy traffic has caused several site crashes. We are attempting to correct these problems. Apologies for any inconvenience.

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