Cap-And-Trade: Natural Air Pollution

Daniel Morales
Eco 210
Professor: Voicu

Cap-and-Trade

Pollution has always been a relevant issue in todays society and even worldwide. Some believe it ‘s natural and some believe its man made. The fact is that both are true but with today’s technology growing at such an alarming pace emissions have increased at an unnatural rate and this is what’s causing global warming to worsen. Because of this there’s only so much that environmentally friendly organizations/ advocates can do to contribute to the reduction of pollution. It’s a losing battle because they cannot keep up with the amount of pollution being emitted. But a new idea has ben introduced by the EDF (Environmental Defense Fund) called “Cap-and Trade”. This new program is believed

to work and many countries are gradually adopting this new idea. Currently all the countries implementing this new program have ben able to reduced emissions.

According to an online article on sciencing.com human made pollution is more harmful than natural pollutions. Although natural pollutants and human made pollutants share some of the same elements and chemical compositions there are some very specific human made technologies that have worsened pollution and cause more of a health hazard than natural pollution. Some examples of those illustrated by sciencing.com are burning coal, which produce sulfur dioxide and “irritates eyes, damages lungs and makes rain acidic.” Acid rain is also the cause for killing aquatic life, damaging rain forests and buildings. Another contributor to acid rain is the element of nitrogen dioxide, which is also emitted by man-made inventions such as “vehicles, industrial boilers and other industrial processes.” Another pollutant is lead from gasoline emitted from power plants and metal refineries, which “contaminate crops and livestock” which are a hazard to the brain and kidneys.

A key piece of information provided by the article states that “Greenhouse gases that cause global warming have increased 31 percent since preindustrial times… human activities have caused an increase from 280 parts per million before the development of industry to 370 parts per million today.” This statistic alone is enough to prove that human made pollution is accelerating the process of natural pollution and destroying our earth much faster by contributing to global warming. Another hard fact provided by sciencing.com is that “Other greenhouse gases include methane and nitrous oxide -- which human activities also produce -- that have contributed to a 0.6 degree Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) increase in the global air surface temperature.”

That’s why scientists and the EDF fought so hard to implement a market friendly solution since they had such insignificant success seeking government intervention. There have been no other programs quite like the Cap-and-Trade program, which was introduced in 2015. The program works in such a way that each company that emits pollution has an emissions cap enforced on them. This cap is the limit in which they are not allowed to exceed emitting pollution, which can also be referred to as an allowance. If the cap limit has been violated the company in violation is cited with a penalty. This encourages companies to stay under the cap, which effectively reduces pollution.

The aspect of capping the amount of pollution emitted has given companies the incentive to find other alternative ways to reduce emissions outside of the Cap-and-Trade program. According to an online article on Smithsonian.com, one such way companies are doing so is by investing in scrubbers, which are “capable of removing the sulfur dioxide from power-plant exhausts.” Although companies saw this as an unnecessary expense it is also considered an alternative to pollution and because the Cap-and-Trade program is market friendly this actually created a market demand for scrubbers at the same time.

Companies that have successfully found efficient pollution reduction alternatives usually either save there allowed cap space for future use or trade there allowance to another company if they are emitting pollution way below their allowance and no longer find it necessary to keep. But, the trade aspect is somewhat limited. Trade is only beneficial if the company receiving the cap space is a company that emits pollution that “spreads out into the atmosphere”. This is because there are less efficient alternatives that reduce these kinds of pollutions rather than the kinds that are more isolated such as mercury. In this case it would be more beneficial for a company to trade their allowance because it would be a win win scenario for both parties. Another aspect of this could be to sell all or a portion of a companies cap space as they see fit in order to efficiently utilize the allowed amount of cap space for emissions.

According to an online article on motherjones.com “there are currently 17 Cap-and-Trade programs in place across four continents.” As of now the US is not involved in the Cap-and-Trade program. But, California has been taking initiative to reduce pollution long before by implementing their own program called the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and the EDF has been co-sponsoring their efforts since. To supplement the act the state of California has also introduced the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act in 2015. “The legislation requires the state to increase its renewable energy mix to 50 percent and double the energy efficiency of existing buildings by 2030.” This is an example of the difference government intervention can make. But with places like the state of California taking initiative and finding alternatives we can reduce the amount of pollution we emit in the U.S.

“The scientific evidence for global warming is overwhelming” according to sciencing.com.

Natural air pollution is inevitable but we can reduce human made emissions and the Cap-and-Trade program is the best solution thus far and has proven results. Also, with individual states such as California successfully passing legislations such as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 and the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act in 2015 and having as much success with them as they’ve had only reinforces the movement to have government intervention. But the Cap-and-Trade is a start and is increasingly earning better results. Not only can going green save our planet but also it is more efficient.

Bibliography

Writer, Leaf Group. "Explaining the Phenomenon of Global Warming." Sciencing. Leaf Group, 24 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 May 2017.

"California leads fight to curb climate change." Environmental Defense Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

Conniff, Richard. "The Political History of Cap and Trade." Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, 01 Aug. 2009. Web. 23 May 2017.

Jameswest2010. "Here's how countries all over the world are making polluters pay." Mother Jones. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

"How cap and trade works." Environmental Defense Fund. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2017.

Writer, Leaf Group. "What Is the Difference Between Human & Natural Air Pollution?" Sciencing. Leaf Group, 24 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 May

2017.