A very important think tank session on cap and trade of carbon emissions was held on Friday, June 9th, 2023 online from 9-10:30 AM. Participants were Mr. Stefano DeClara, Head of the Secretariat at ICAP; Professor Jessica Green, University of Toronto; Mark Kennedy, Director, Wilson's Wahba Institute for Strategic Competition; Dagmara Koska, Deputy Head, Global Issues, Delegation of the EU to US; Professor Barry Rabe, University of Michigan; and moderator--Sara Schondhardt, E&E News.
The cap and trade method, extant and used by governments at various levels around the globe, is coordinated by ICAP. It, in turn, takes as a model the EU ETS (emissions trading) as the basic procedure in the process of amassing funding for transition to a decarbonization energy universal source, i.e., one no longer largely dependent on the use of carbon-based matter to produce energy for the world.
I noticed the EPA was not represented among speakers on the topic, despite seemingly, that the topic falls within its legal area of concern and monitoring.
I have witnessed over the years of the EPA several instances in which it fought hard to be on such a panel to express their viewpoint on a topical matter within their legal ken. And what I find missing is the oversight critical function of evaluating those ETS on-going without significant appraisal of these systems, evidently, voluntarily controlled. I observed at the meeting that occasionally a panelist would, himself, raise criticism, e.g., removing offsets because they are too expensive and little regulation of them.
I came away with the impression that the energy system now in place is being self-served in the use of this industry's commitment to a method--cap and trade--that appears to lack independent validation.
My opinion, after having attended the session.
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