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Posts Tagged ‘Air Quality’

Ever since the slow realization set in and we began to understand that our conspicuous consumption over the decades has led to serious damage to our environment, as a society we have been looking for ways to turn it around. Certainly, the problem is gigantic as we are very reliant on the use of fossil fuels for our energy. The subsequent emission of dangerous greenhouse gases has caused a considerable problem and must be addressed.

Few would disagree that greenhouse gas damage has been caused to our environment and many of us can already see the adverse climate problems that have been caused. However, it will need the action of governments to force change in such a way as to be effective. This change is coming however as a cap and trade carbon system has just been introduced by the British which will effectively force the largest consumers of energy to change their ways and reduce their output of carbon emissions.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment is legislation aimed squarely at the largest producers in the United Kingdom. This cap and trade carbon system will place a limit on the total amount of carbon emissions and force individual organizations to trade between themselves and with the government, effectively reducing the overall volume emitted.

The concept of a cap and trade carbon system is not new. Theoretically it works by forcing consumers to trade actively underneath a limit, thus achieving a natural reduction. However, carbon has not before been viewed as a commodity. Other governments around the world are likely to take up a similar approach and many are viewing developments with interest.

The British government has decided that approximately 5,000 companies in the country are major producers of greenhouse gases due to their consumption of energy. Within a couple of years, each of these companies will be required to actively reduce their carbon footprint as part of the cap and trade carbon system. Those that do not, will find that they face an increasing cost as they purchase their carbon allowances and will also find that their underperformance will be communicated to society as a whole.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment is aiming squarely at the year 2050 and programs have been designed to take the project up to that point, reducing carbon emissions by 80%. Hopefully, this will contain and even reverse some of the worst damage to our environment that has been caused by greenhouse gas emissions.

Within the United States, legislators are a little slower to take up the cause of climate change, although they are considering a program similar to the cap and trade carbon system now in place. It remains to be seen how far this piece of legislation gets.

While it is unrealistic to expect companies and individuals to make significant attempts to reduce their carbon footprints without encouragement by the government, the jury is still out as to whether a cap and trade carbon system is the right approach or not.