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US Carbon Trading on the Way
Economists at New Carbon Finance predict that in less than two decades the US will have a huge
carbon emissions market, topping out at $1 trillion, more than twice the EU’s Emissions trading
scheme.
Currently, there are 13 climate change bills
in front of the US House and Senate, most of which propose market-based carbon solutions such as
cap and trade programs. Consumer energy prices would rise as a result of the carbon trading market,
but investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency would work to lower energy costs, New
Carbon Finance analysts predict.
New Carbon Finance reports that cap and trade systems for
carbon seems inevitable with the largest purchasers of greenhouse gas emission credits being coal
burning power plants and oil refiners.
All of the leading presidential candidates have
endorsed carbon emissions reductions. Federal climate change regulations would most likely also
include trade sanctions on imports from countries that do not have mandatory carbon emissions caps.
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