Cap-And-Trade-Process
Licences to Create Pollution?

Cap-and-trade-process fair and beneficial to everyone involved? Not everyone believes that buying and selling of pollution-credits is the solution and that emissions-trading is not environmentally effective in the long run especially without strict regulation and guidelines for everyone.

Just what is a cap-and-trade-system?

Well, it's intended to be a way of keeping a handle on the amount of pollution being created in the form of greenhouse gases in many geographical areas and while conducting business on many levels.

This can be specific to an area, a country, and in any Industry.

Allowable credits for "allowable" amounts of pollution that can be emitted are granted by Government bodies, and this amount is capped at a certain level.

The goal is for the company to stay below the capped amount of course to keep their pollution output at a minimum.

If the company has "credits" leftover, these can be traded with other companies or sold for a profit.

If the company goes over the capped amount of pollution produced, a fine for doing so has to be paid.

Cap-And-Trade-Process Has Alot Of Critics

As far as the critics are concerned, the cap and trade theory doesn't address what is the root of the problem.

They believe this gives the biggest creators of pollution a licence to carry on business as usual by means of bad business doings without really feeling a consequence. Many businesses can afford to pay the fines imposed easily for going over the cap, and by paying off smaller, greener companies.

The carbon tax is mostly preferred to cap-and-trade to promote green energy and lessen emissions.

Nevertheless, a carbon tax, like a cap-and-trade-process would use the power of the market to achieve cost-effective emissions reductions, and both would generate revenues that could be used for the public benefit. It may be possible for the two policies to co-exist and complement one another.

The critics of the cap-and-trade-process believe the system at the very least needs to be defined in terms of strict regulations, and these are just some of them:

Pollution/global warming emissions would be measured in C02 metric tons

The caps should reduce over time in terms of allowable amounts of pollution-credits allowed.

Incentives be available to those who remain below the cap to put into place greener technologies and cost effective emission options.

For those who can't afford continuous improvements in how they do business in a responsible manner, something should be in place to allow access to all to these technologies as well.

Strict goals and timelines must be enforced to meet certain standards of pollution-control.

Cover all major sources of pollutors and as many as possible from business and residential sectors. Make the cap-and-trade system equally applicable to everyone.

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