The Environment is Relying on a Cap and Trade Carbon System
We have come to realize that it is time to turn our attention to reparation, rather than to continue our conspicuous consumption of energy and fossil fuels. We can now see what damage has been caused to our environment due to this excess consumption and must make sure that we do not further contribute. Over the decades, greenhouse gas emissions have combined to present a significant threat to our very future.
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 cap and trade carbon system is basically a hybrid of a concept that’s been around for a long time. In this case though, carbon itself is being developed into a commodity and this is a very new approach. It is felt that a natural reduction will be achieved by forcing the largest consumers to include carbon as a cost within their operations. There is a lot of interest in this British program as many other governments around the world are likely to adopt similar ideas.
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 has set goals of reducing the overall level of emissions each year up until 2050, by which time the intention is that carbon emissions will have been reduced by 80%. It is felt that this kind of aggressive action is necessary to ensure that even more serious and potentially devastating damage to our environment and climate is contained.
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.
Without the intervention of government, it is unlikely that either individuals or corporations would take the scale of action required to address climate change. Thus, although the cap and trade carbon system has its detractors, it is likely to make significant headway.
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