CA: Schwarzenegger pushes markets for global warming emissions (trading carbon emissions credits)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will announce an executive order Monday in New York that joins California's landmark global warming law with the Northeast's program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The executive order is the first step in creating a system that helps California's biggest manufacturers to comply with stricter environmental regulations, a Schwarzenegger administration official said. Industrial corporations and utility companies must cut their greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 25 percent by 2020.

"Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to build a large, robust carbon trading market that will dramatically reduce emissions," said Schwarzenegger communications director Adam Mendelson. "The more robust the market, the more effective we will be."

The executive order "will now get the northeast states working with California to trade credits in the very near future," Mendelson said.

The Northeast system currently involves seven states that plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at power plants beginning in 2009. It allows power plants to trade emissions credits as a way to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Linking California to that program could help California power plants meet their obligations under the state's new global warming law.

Schwarzenegger will spend the day in New York learning about corporate and government efforts to combat global warming, his spokesman, Darrel Ng, said. The governor will open the Nasdaq Stock Market. In May, the Nasdaq and Clean Edge, Inc., of Oakland, created The Clean Technology Index to track investments in clean-energy companies.

Schwarzenegger will also tour a carbon trading floor at Credit Suisse with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and visit the country's first "green" residential high-rise building with New York Gov. George Pataki, Ng said.

The two governors will discuss ways to join California to the northeast states' Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and create an emissions trading exchange.

Pataki helped craft the Northeastern system after Bush withdrew from the 160-nation Kyoto Protocol on global warming in 2001.

Schwarzenegger, who is running for re-election in November, has touted the state's 2006 global warming law as a key component of his environmental record. It has also distinguished him from President Bush, who has said companies should voluntarily reduce emissions. Schwarzenegger opponent state Treasurer Phil Angelides has embraced the law.

California's global warming law imposes the country's first mandatory statewide cap on greenhouse gas emissions, a move that has been criticized by manufacturers and cement makers two of the largest emitters of the greenhouse gases scientists blame for rising temperatures in many parts of the world.

In an effort to make the cap workable for businesses, Schwarzenegger has advocated setting up a market system that could enable the state's companies to buy, sell and trade emission credits instead of making their own reductions.

"Implementing a cap and trade and allowing manufacturers to offset some of the substantial costs will help manufacturers deal with the greenhouse gas mandate," said Gino DiCaro, a spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association.

The executive order will direct the California Air Resources Board and the California Environmental Protection Agency to collaborate with other jurisdictions to create a "multi-sector, market-based" compliance program, a Schwarzenegger official said.

Schwarzenegger this summer urged the western governors to join California in a regional trading system and signed an agreement with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to develop new technologies to combat global warming.

This trading system appears to be nothing more than geographically displacing the problem. A traditional polluter, who identifies and implements systems which control his historic pollution levels beyond mandatory minimums can now trade the excesses of his success to someone who can't.

If Schwarzenegger were serious in his commitments, which he isn't, he'd simply stop what he identifies as a problem. The long and the short of this proposal is an admission that the guide lines, promoted for political gain, are unrealistic and unenforceable without severe economic pain.

A better solution is to call for reductions when the technologies are available on a case by case basis. Example: When a clever cement producer, or an institution of higher learning, or a foreign competitor intensifies an economic solution to reducing emissions during the production of cement, then, and only then, are significant reductions mandated.

THE TECHINOGLY IS THERE NOW

Here in IL Caterpillar has some of its factories greenhouse admissions BELOW what the Kyoto accords called for using their own prodcutss they developed

Started in 2002, Climate Leaders is a voluntary program in which the EPA works with companies to set aggressive long-term emissions reduction goals. Partners set a corporate-wide GHG reduction goal and inventory their emissions to measure progress. By reporting inventory data to EPA, partners create a lasting record of their accomplishments.

In many cases, Caterpillar has used its own products to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions at its facilities. Examples of such efforts include using natural gas-fired combined heat and power units featuring Solar® Turbines in conjunction with units that recover waste heat. Such systems are not only more cost efficient, but they also have substantially reduced GHG emissions at those Caterpillar facilities.

In addition, dozens of 6 Sigma teams have implemented energy conservation projects that can be replicated across the globe at Caterpillar facilities, not only saving money, but also continuing to reduce emissions.

The company is an active participant in other environmental stewardship initiatives in addition to the Climate Leaders program. Examples include the U.S. EPA Clean School Bus initiative and Caterpillar's participation as a founding member and supporter of the Health Effects Institute, an industry and EPA organization designed to facilitate dialogue and fund research on emissions-related issues

Also china is ahead of us in some areas as far as

Caterpillar Powered Coal Methane Gas Project in China Will be Largest in the World Use of Caterpillar Generator Sets Expected to Help Improve Mine Safety, Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Generate Electricity from Methane Gas BEIJING, People's Republic of China (PRC), May 18 /-- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) has been selected to provide 60 methane-gas- powered generator sets to produce 120 megawatts of power at the Sihe Coal Mine in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province, China. The Shanxi Jincheng Anthracite Coal Mining Group Co., Ltd. is the project developer for the methane gas power project, which is expected to be the largest of its kind in the world when it is fully operational. "The residents of Shanxi Province will benefit from this power plant, which is a great example of the progress that is possible when companies like Caterpillar and its dealers work closely with industry and government," said Stu Levenick, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for China." "This project will improve environmental and economic conditions and mine safety while increasing trade between the United States and China." Methane gas is found in coal seams and can be hazardous if not properly managed and ventilated from mines. The power plant project is expected to improve methane gas ventilation at the mine site, improving safety while providing an environmentally friendly fuel source to generate electricity. Historically, the methane has been vented into the atmosphere, generating greenhouse gas emissions. By capturing the previously vented methane gas and converting it into electricity, the Caterpillar generator sets will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while also improving the capacity of the local power grid. It's estimated the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4.5 million tons over a 20-year period.

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