U.S. cap and trade rebranded as “pollution reduction”

subscribe

Like a savvy Madison Avenue advertising team, senators pushing climate-control legislation have decided to scrap the name "cap and trade" and rebrand their product as "pollution reduction targets."

A clunky and difficult term to define for laymen and some politicians, "cap and trade" had become dirty words on Capitol Hill in recent months.

Republicans called the plan nothing more than "cap and tax" and one influential senator took great pains last week to declare cap and trade "dead."

Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent trying to draft a bipartisan bill, said, "We don't use that term anymore."

Instead Lieberman said, laughing: "We will have pollution reduction targets."

But Lieberman did say it was still possible utilities may be subject to a cap and trade system. Senator Thomas Carper, who chairs a clean air panel in the Senate, told Reuters that cap and trade for utilities was the way to go.

Under cap and trade, or whatever it's called, Washington would impose steadily declining limits on carbon pollution that companies could emit, in the hopes of battling global warming. The pollution permits they would be required to hold would be traded in a regulated financial market.

A bill passed by the House of Representatives last year would impose an economy-wide cap and trade program. That bill has been stuck in the Senate since last year.

Since then, other ideas have been discussed for controlling carbon emissions, including a carbon tax, "cap and dividend" and even "cap and trade with training wheels," where an independent board would set a narrow price range for carbon for eight years to give markets experience in trading permits before going to a full-blown cap and trade.

Related News

SC nuclear plant on the mend after a leak shut down production for weeks

COLUMBIA, SC - The V.C. Summer nuclear power plant, which has been shut down since early November because of a pipe leak, is expected to begin producing energy in a few days.

Dominion Energy says it has fixed the small leak in a pipe valve that allowed radioactive water to drip out. The company declined to say when the plant would be fully operational, but spokesman Ken Holt said that can take several days.

The plant was at 17 percent power Wednesday, he said.

Holt, who said Dominion is still investigating the cause, said water that leaked was part of the reactor cooling system.…

READ MORE
canadian grid power lines

State-sponsored actors 'very likely' looking to attack electricity supply, says intelligence agency

READ MORE

weed zapper

A robot is killing weeds by zapping them with electricity

READ MORE

hydro one logo

Ontario introduces new fixed COVID-19 hydro rate

READ MORE

sheerness power plant

Alberta gives $40M to help workers transition from coal power jobs

READ MORE