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ICE's Sprecher Says China Sees Carbon Trading in its Future
2010-11-01 17:46:43.529 GMT
By Simon Lomax
Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- China is showing interest in starting
cap-and-trade programs for greenhouse gases amid a "very
uncertain" outlook for a national carbon market in the U.S.,
according to the chief of the Intercontinental Exchange Inc.
"Tremendous discussion and movement towards more carbon
trading is coming out of China," Jeff Sprecher, chief executive
officer of the Atlanta-based company, said on a conference call
today.
Intercontinental, the second-largest U.S. futures market,
acquired carbon-trading hubs in Chicago and London when it
bought Climate Exchange Plc in July.
China's government is examining carbon and energy-usage
caps for "major industrial cities," Sprecher said. The
interest in pollution trading isn't the result of United Nations
negotiations over a new treaty to curb the greenhouse gases
scientists have linked to climate change, he said.
"It's really being driven by the government wanting to
allocate energy resources and deal with local pollution
issues," Sprecher said. By comparison, "there's a very
uncertain U.S. regulatory appetite for cap-and-trade."
Cap-and-trade programs, in which companies buy and sell
carbon dioxide pollution rights, already operate in Europe and
in a 10-state region of the U.S. Northeast. Some western U.S.
states, led by California, may join 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.
Legislation Stalls
The measure 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, a Nevada Democrat, said
in September the proposal won't pass this year. Republicans in
the U.S. House of Representatives have said they will block cap-
and-trade legislation, which they describe as a "national
energy tax," if they win a majority of seats in tomorrow's
midterm elections.
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: Charlotte Porter, Dan Stets.
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:
Dan Stets at +1-212-617-4403 or dstets@bloomberg.net.
