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.