Climate 411

Today’s post is from Sara Hessenflow Harper, a policy analyst for our national climate campaign. She does extensive outreach to the agricultural community.

Yesterday, Mark MacLeod wrote about the “safety valve” and its flaws. I wanted to add to the discussion a more specific look at its implications for rural America. In addition to the problems Mark noted, the “safety valve” would also cut farmers out of the carbon market. Here’s how.
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Today’s post is by Mark MacLeod, director of special projects for the national climate campaign at Environmental Defense.

Some people have proposed a “safety valve” to control the costs of a cap-and-trade policy to fight global warming. This post explains what a safety valve is, and why it provides only an illusion of cost management.

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This post is by Mark MacLeod, director of special projects for the national climate campaign at Environmental Defense.

Cap-and-trade is the structure of most of the global warming bills being considered by Congress.

The “cap” is the cornerstone of the policy. It is an absolute, nationwide limit on global warming pollution. Congress would most likely establish a cap measured as billions of tons of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) released into the atmosphere each year. Over time, the cap would be lowered to cut emissions enough to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. (See our earlier series for more on how much we need to cut.)

The “trade” part is a market that creates powerful incentives for companies to reduce pollution, and provides flexibility in how companies can meet the limits.

Here’s how it works:

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