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Cap and Trade Working Already
December 15, 2009 10:14 AM - Roger Greenway, ENN
The US already has years of experience with Cap and Trade. A sulfur dioxide (SO2) Cap and Trade program has proven an effective control strategy to lower SO2 emissions. It provides elements of market incentives and provides flexibility to facilities that emit large quantities of the pollutant in several ways. One of the most important ways is that it permits older facilities which may need to operate for a limited number of years to purchase “emissions credits” to continue operating without installing un-economic emissions controls by purchasing credits. The credits are created by other sources which control their emissions MORE than required under regulations. There is also an overall reduction in the program to benefit the environment so we are not just transferring emission from one plant to another. A reflection of the effectiveness is that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that power plants across the country decreased emissions of SO2, a precursor to acid rain, to 7.6 million tons in 2008.
