The Environment is Relying on a Cap and Trade Carbon System
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by: DanielStouffer | Total views: 148 | Word Count: 484
We have come to realize that it is time to turn our attention to reparation, rather than to continue our conspicuous consumption of energy and fossil fuels. We can now see what damage has been caused to our environment due to this excess consumption and must make sure that we do not further contribute. Over the decades, greenhouse gas emissions have combined to present a significant threat to our very future.
It is unlikely that consumers in general would take sufficient steps by themselves to cause significant reversal to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions. It will be necessary for governments to take stringent action to force a change and to curtail the amount of carbon emissions. Within the United Kingdom, the cap and trade carbon system is now in place, which will ultimately drive down the production of greenhouse gases by effectively forcing the largest consumers to change their ways.
The UK government reckons that the Carbon Reduction Commitment will be highly effective in reducing the overall volume of greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere. This cap and trade carbon system will ultimately place a limit on the overall amount of gas emissions, forcing individual organizations to trade within an active market for the right to emit at all.
The concept of a cap and trade carbon system is not new. Theoretically it works by forcing consumers to trade actively underneath a limit, thus achieving a natural reduction. However, carbon has not before been viewed as a commodity. Other governments around the world are likely to take up a similar approach and many are viewing developments with interest.
The British government has decided that approximately 5,000 companies in the country are major producers of greenhouse gases due to their consumption of energy. Within a couple of years, each of these companies will be required to actively reduce their carbon footprint as part of the cap and trade carbon system. Those that do not, will find that they face an increasing cost as they purchase their carbon allowances and will also find that their underperformance will be communicated to society as a whole.
The Carbon Reduction Commitment has set goals of reducing the overall level of emissions each year up until 2050, by which time the intention is that carbon emissions will have been reduced by 80%. It is felt that this kind of aggressive action is necessary to ensure that even more serious and potentially devastating damage to our environment and climate is contained.
The cap and trade carbon system adopted by the British may well appear in the United States as well, as legislation being considered in mid to late 2009 seeks to adopt a similar program.
Without the intervention of government, it is unlikely that either individuals or corporations would take the scale of action required to address climate change. Thus, although the cap and trade carbon system has its detractors, it is likely to make significant headway.
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