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Chicago Exchange to End Voluntary Cap-And-Trade Scheme (Update1)
2010-10-22 17:25:45.76 GMT
(Updates with program's members, carbon offset registry
starting in the third paragraph.)
By Simon Lomax
Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The Chicago Climate Exchange's cap-
and-trade program for companies to make voluntary cuts in their
greenhouse gas output will not be extended past 2010, the
emissions trading hub said.
The "voluntary pilot program" for carbon trading, in
which companies pledged to cut their emissions 6 percent by
2010, will conclude "as scheduled," the exchange, owned by
Intercontinental Exchange Inc., said in a statement on its
website.
Utilities such as American Electric Power Co. and
manufacturers such as Honeywell International Inc. were among
voluntary carbon trading program's 450 members. It was launched
in 2003 to "to help prepare businesses and markets for
potential regulations" that limit carbon dioxide and other
gases that scientists have linked to climate change, the
exchange said.
Cap-and-trade programs, in which companies buy and sell a
declining number of carbon dioxide pollution rights, already
operate in Europe and a 10-state region of the U.S. Northeast. A
group of western U.S. states, led by California, may join some
Canadian provinces to start their own trading bloc in 2012.
The U.S. House of Representatives, with the support of
President Barack Obama, passed cap-and-trade legislation last
year that called for a 17 percent emissions cut from the 2005
level by 2020.
Senate Action
The legislation later stalled amid criticism from Senate
Republicans and some Democrats that it would make fossil fuels
such as coal and oil more expensive to use and slow the U.S.
economy's recovery from the worst recession since the Great
Depression. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said last month
the cap-and-trade legislation won't pass this year.
More than 15,000 farmers, ranchers and foresters
participated in the voluntary carbon trading program by earning
"offsets" through activities such as tree planting and
capturing methane from livestock manure, the Chicago exchange
said.
A new "registry" for these carbon-offset projects will be
started to keep track of these pollution cuts, the exchange
said.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
Northeast U.S. trading: RGGI <GO>
--Editors: Bill Banker, Richard Stubbe
To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Bill Banker at +1-212-617-2313 or
bbanker@bloomberg.net
