Wednesday, January 5, 2011

California Enters Carbon Trading Market

California Air Board OKs Cap-and-Trade Regulations
Wyatt Buchanan, SF Chronicle, December 16, 2010

The California Air Resources Board on Thursday approved the creation of the nation's first broad-based program to put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and to begin charging large emitters for the excess carbon dioxide they discharge to the atmosphere.

Under the new rules, which take effect in 2012, the number of metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions estimated for California will be capped at the currently-forecasted emissions levels for 2012. Over the next three years, the cap will shrink by 2 percent per year. From 2015 to 2020, the cap will drop by 3 percent per year.

The cap first applies to the some of California's biggest emitters, including utilities and large industrial plants. In 2015, it will expand to fuel distributors. In total, it will apply to 360 businesses at 600 locations across the state.

Read the complete article here.

Environmental Economist Joins White House Staff

Nathaniel Keohane, most recently the chief economist at the Environmental Defense Fund, has moved to the National Economic Council at the White House to help direct environmental and energy policy.

Mr. Keohane is a vigorous proponent of the market-based system of cap and trade to control greenhouse gas emissions.

The top job at the economic council is currently vacant; the former director, Lawrence H. Summers, resigned at the end of 2010. Carol M. Browner, the White House coordinator for energy and climate policy, is rumored to be moving to a new post, possibly deputy chief of staff.

Via Green, a blog about energy and the environment, at NYTimes.com.

New Life for Old Stuff

Mike Ross’ Big Rig Jig, created using decommissioned tanker trucks, is a marvel in repurposing whose message is about man’s precarious relationship with nature.

The artist describes his monumental, interactive, visually compelling creation as: “Big Rig Jig is constructed from two discarded tanker trucks. The work serves both as a sculpture and an architectural space: Visitors may enter the lower truck, climb through the tankers and emerge through a portal at the top. The rear axles of the upper tanker serve as a viewing platform, 42 feet in the air.”

Read more here, at 1800recycling.com.

big rigs