New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), in conjunction with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), is currently accepting public comments on several proposed changes to the DEC's regulations governing New York's participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). New York, along with Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, participate in the RGGI,1 which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants through a cap-and-trade program. DEC's proposed changes, which are based on updates to the RGGI model rule, are designed to reduce the RGGI emissions "cap" to increase the costs of CO2 emissions credits to encourage further reduction in CO2 emissions. Other participating states are expected to make similar changes to their RGGIimplementing regulations. The DEC also announced plans to prepare an environmental study of these regulatory revisions, a relatively rare move for the agency when it revises regulations.
...This has depressed the value of the allowances and rendered the trading program ineffective. Among the changes, DEC proposes reducing the emissions cap in 2014 by approximately 45 percent, from about 165 million tons of CO2 to 91 million tons. The reduced emissions cap of 91 million tons is consistent with current emissions levels and would theoretically reinvigorate the trading program since emissions from regulated power sources would collectively reach the cap. The amendments leave in place a provision that would reduce the cap by 2.5 percent annually for 2015 through 2020 to further encourage emissions reductions.
Read on by Steven C. Russo and Adam B. Silverman at: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f880bd33-b112-47fa-8c85-307c00365f09
Overview
Figure 1. Location of power plants that are within the RGGI region. The larger the gray circle, the greater the emissions of GHG.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a multi-state plan to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from electric power plants over 10 states of the northeast from Maine to Maryland. The RGGI region covers 130,000 sq miles, is 60% forested, is 17% farmland, and has a population of about 50 million. The region emits about 10% of all US GHGs and has a $2.4 trillion economy that comprises about 19% of the US economy.
Read more via http://www.whrc.org/policy/rggi.html
