Title: Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Shows Pollution Pricing Works - Center for American Progress

Industry sector: Government

The Proof Is in the Pudding
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Shows Pollution Pricing Works

By Sean Pool | March 22, 2010

As Congress looks for a way to price global warming pollution at the federal level, 10 Northeastern states have already put in place a market-based carbon emissions reduction program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI (pronounced "Reggie"), that just completed its seventh successful auction of pollution permits. And while opponents of clean energy reform falsely claim that a cap-and-trade system would harm the economy, RGGI provides a working model and active case study of how reducing pollution can actually drive economic growth. By 2018 the 10 RGGI states will have reduced their power sector carbon emissions by 10 percent, created thousands of homegrown clean energy jobs, and driven billions of dollars of public and private investment into the clean energy technologies of the future.

RGGI proves that a market-based price on power-sector emissions is both possible and effective in the United States, and it has big implications for federal clean energy legislation. As Congress continues considering such legislation it should take a closer look at what RGGI is doing and learn from both its strengths and weaknesses.

Read the full essay at The Center for American Progress.