Letter to the Editor pubs.acs.org/est
International Carbon Trading: A Game Changer for Climate Change? Liyin Liang§ Xi Chen‡
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n addition to carbon tax,1 cap-and-trade is an easily underestimated but no less critical solution for climate change. Above all, the evidence in the nine U.S. statesConnecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermontshows cap-and-trade program is an effective approach to slash carbon emission. The nine U.S. states developed the northeastern cap-and-trade program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) for limiting carbon emission from power plants. The original cap-and-trade program can be tracked to the government of President George H.W. Bush to control acrid rain.2 This program facilitated U.S. to reduce the sulfur oxide emissions ahead of schedule and at 30% of the projected cost.3 The RGGI was first implemented in 2009. Since 2009, the nine states have cut their emissions by 18%, while their economies grew by 9.2%. By comparison, emissions in the other 41 states fell by 4%, while their economies grew by 8.8%.4 The old idea that limiting carbon emission will bring an end of economic growth,4,5 which have blocked action to control carbon emission.2 However, the unfolding story of RGGI is demonstrating that using cap-and-trade program to stem carbon pollution is cheaper and easier than we imagines. In addition, cap-and-trade program has become a preferable approach to limit carbon emission not only in U.S.the biggest cumulative carbon emitter since industrial revolution and Australiathe global biggest per capita carbon emitter,6 but also in Chinathe global biggest carbon emitter.6 Partly inspirited the successful story of RGGI, California officially launched its cap-and-trade program for carbon pollution on January 1, 2013. Moreover, cap-and-trade program is believed as a preferable approach to meet the new EPA standard to cut carbon emissions from power plants by 30% from 2005 levels by 2030.7,8 Outside the U.S., China has conducted its regional carbon-trading schemes to limit carbon pollution since 2012, which is toward to national system.9 In July 2014, Australia repealed a carbon tax established in July 2012, and planned to turn into a cap and trading scheme in mid-2015.10 It also should be pointed out that the EU is currently overhauling its trading scheme through reducing the number of emissions allowances available. The overallocation of allowance during the recession has directly led to the price of carbon to collapse.11 A multinational and a global carbon market will be developed from these regional and national cap-and-trade programs. The RGGI has provided a strong evidence that cap-and trade program can make carbon reduction compatible economic growth. And recent years have witnessed so much countries to develop their national or regional cap-and-trade programs. The cap-and-trade program thus should not be underestimated in the Paris climate negotiation next year. If those national and regional trading were incorporated into an international system guided by the new global treaty, the cap-and-trade system would be a game changer for climate change.
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*Phone/fax: 86 + 991755420; e-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors thank the editor/reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. REFERENCES
(1) Schnoor, J. L. Responding to climate change with a carbon tax. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48 (21), 12475−12476. (2) Wang, Q.; Chen, X. Rethinking and reshaping the climate policy: Literature review and proposed guidelines. Renewable Sustainable Energy Rev. 2013, 21 (0), 469−477. (3) Chameides, W.; Oppenheimer, M. Carbon Trading Over Taxes. Science 2007, 315 (5819), 1670. (4) TheUpshot, The Best of Both Worlds in Cutting Emission and Enjoyed Growth. The New York Times JUNE 6, 2014, 2014; p SR3. (5) Wang, Q. China should aim for a total cap on emissions. Nature 2014, 512, 115. (6) CDIAC Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions; Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy: Oak Ridge, TN, 2014. (7) Davenport, C. President Said to Be Planning to Use Executive Authority on Carbon Rule. New York Times May 28, 2014; p A20. (8) Harder, A. EPA Sets Draft Rule to Cut Carbon Emissions by 30% by 2030. Wall Street Journal June 2, 2014. (9) Wang, Q. China has the capacity to lead in carbon trading. Nature 2013, 493 (7432), 273. (10) Schiermeier, Q. Anger as Australia dumps carbon tax. Nature 2014, 511 (7510), 392. (11) Edenhofer, O. Climate policy: Reforming emissions trading. Nature Clim. Change 2014, 4 (8), 663−664.
Received: Revised: Accepted: Published:
Jianwei Ju† Qiang Wang*,‡
© 2014 American Chemical Society
† Los Alamos National Laboratory, 3747 W. Jemez Road, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544, United States ‡ State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818 South Beijing Road, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830011, China § Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, United States
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October 20, 2014 November 11, 2014 November 14, 2014 November 26, 2014 dx.doi.org/10.1021/es505118x | Environ. Sci. Technol. 2014, 48, 14069−14069
