Carbon II

To elaborate on my brief commentary yesterday, dialogue has been positively exploding on the carbon and emissions trading front. The Economist today summarized US domestic discussion as California and several states comprising a significant portion of the Northeast megalopolis have announced plans to develop carbon trading environments. This state-led development helps explain the recent news that several significant heavy industrial corporations have banded together behind a banner calling for a national system. If change is coming, companies seek the most cost effective means of adapting, and complying with patchwork regulations across different states most certainly is not the most effective means of doing so. Similarly, Kyoto has its limits, as the Green.View column discusses—after 2012, the future is unknown. Part of America’s complaints about the treaty were certainly legitimate.

Economist Green.View