First Cap & Trade Program Addresses Climate Change

The seven Northeast states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state program to reduce harmful climate-changing emissions from power plants, today released a model set of regulations to be proposed in each state to implement the program. The RGGI States also released an amendment to their December 2005 Memorandum of Understanding.

Under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), seven Northeast states agreed to propose a cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are a major contributor to global warming. This is the first mandatory cap-and-trade program for CO2 emissions in U.S. history. The states participating in RGGI are: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. The State of Maryland recently adopted legislation requiringMaryland to join RGGI by June 2007. (More Info)