The Mixed History of EPA Management of Banked Emissions Allowances
RFF Academic Seminar
Presenters
Arthur G. Fraas and Nathan Richardson
Resources for the Future
Date
Thursday, December 2, 2010
12 - 1:00 p.m.
Location
7th Floor Conference Center
1616 P St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
The history of emissions-trading markets in the United States is marked by change. Since cap-and-trade programs were first implemented on a large scale after the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has repeatedly revised and replaced emissions trading markets for nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide. In each transition, the agency has had to decide what to do with emissions allowances banked in the earlier program. These banked allowances represent early reductions in emissions, with corresponding environmental benefits, but also the expectation on the part of regulated entities that they will continue to hold value in the future. Unsettling these expectations can lead to price volatility, instability in markets, and erosion of buy-in from regulated entities and the credibility of regulators. The paper discusses EPA’s mixed record regarding these transitions and implications for the future of cap and trade as a policy tool.
See http://www.rff.org/Publications/Pages/PublicationDetails.aspx?PublicationID=21309 for more details.
All seminars will be in the 7th Floor Conference Room at RFF, 1616 P Street NW. Attendance is open, but involves pre-registration no later than two days prior to the event. For questions and to register to an event, please contact Juha Siikamäki at [email protected] (tel. 202-328-5157) or Daniel McDermott at [email protected] (tel. 202-328-5174). Updates to our academic seminars schedule will be posted at www.rff.org/academicseminarseries.