The Chicago Climate Exchange was mentioned on the Earth Day edition of KQED’s Forum program today. It’s an experimental market, focused on the midwestern US, for trading rights to emit carbon. The participants are energy, industrial, and resource companies.
Emissions trading seems straightforward in practice, but, considering that you and I dump carbon into the atmosphere as well as Reliant Energy, how do I pay for my pollution rights? Does Honda buy enough to cover what my Civic will produce over it’s operating life, and add the present discounted value to the sticker price? And what if I add an after market device to reduce emissions, or have the car converted to hydrogen or natural gas? How do I sell my rights to the forgone carbon?
