WASHINGTON — California, New Mexico and 10 Northeastern states, including Maine, may try to create a North American carbon market now that President Obama has given up on cap-and-trade legislation that stalled in Congress.

The emissions-trading system would be based on a planned carbon market in California, the most populous state, and an existing regional cap-and-trade program for power plants in the Northeast, according to state environmental officials. Several Canadian provinces may also participate.

Such a carbon market would probably “stick pretty close to the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and not venture too far inland,” Ethan Zindler, a Washington-based analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview.

California has been planning to start a cap-and-trade program in 2012.

A Northeast component is being studied by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a trading program covering 10 states in the Northeast, according to Mary Nichols, chairman of California’s Air Resources Board.

“Nobody, including us, wants to be alone in implementing a cap-and-trade program,” Nichols said on a conference call after the defeat of the ballot measure.

Advertisement

The 10 states in the Northeast have been auctioning carbon- dioxide permits, or allowances, since 2008. The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative’s quarterly auctions have raised $729 million so far. The next auction is scheduled for today.

Revenue from the auctions is falling because power plants are producing less electricity in the weak economy and need fewer carbon allowances. Auction revenue from the first three quarters of this year fell 18 percent and some allowances have gone unsold, according to data from the regional program.

While most of the money from the Northeast auctions is set aside for renewable-electricity generation and energy-saving projects, New York, New Jersey and New Hampshire have used some to close budget shortfalls.

The rules of the Northeast’s cap-and-trade market are scheduled for review in 2012 and “some discussions” have been held about aligning the program with the California-led system, James Brooks, air-quality director of the Maine Department of the Environment, said.

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.