Cap And Trade And You
Sure, baseball is the Great American Pastime. Complaining about politicians, however, comes a close second. One of the many issues that is currently vexing our representatives in Austin and Washington is climate change. While some people have different opinions as to the cause, the average global temperature is indeed rising. One of the solutions that has been proposed by the government is an arrangement called "cap and trade." The policy is something that you've likely heard about in the news. So what is "cap and trade," and how could it affect the average electricity consumer?
Cap and trade was designed to address the increasing amount of greenhouse gases that the United States and other countries are releasing into the atmosphere. Gases such as carbon dioxide act in the same way as glass in a greenhouse: trapping heat on the planet that would otherwise flow elsewhere. While the Earth experiences temperature cycles, as a result of axial tilt and other factors, most climatologists believe that the massive amount of greenhouse gases pumped into the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution has changed the content of our air such that the climate is changing and the planet is heating so much that big changes will result.
Cap and trade, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is a strategy to reduce pollution in which "the government sets an overall cap on emissions and creates allowances...to emit, up to the level of the cap." Then, those allowances become a currency; companies are "free to buy or sell allowances or 'bank' them to use in future years." In other words, the government allows an oil-burning power plant to pump a certain volume of greenhouse gases into the air. If, at the end of the year, the power plant has leftover pollution credits, the company that owns the plant can sell those extra pollution credits to other companies who need them to come in under their quota.
While cap and trade and other pollution regulations are a nationwide matter, Texas is a state that has a disproportionally large role when it comes to energy. As the discovery and increasing American reliance on petroleum shaped the twentieth century, a significant percentage of energy infrastructure was established in the Lone Star State, which means that the state is influenced, for better or worse, by the energy policy formulated in Washington. Cap and trade has been a hot idea in the federal government for quite some time. Dave Michaels, a reporter for the Dallas News, posits that cap and trade looked to be on a fast track in 2009, but seems to have stalled in 2010. In fact, the policy "seemed like a sure thing," and it had the support of Democrats and others in Texas.
Discussion, as usual, tends to slow down change. (This, of course, can be good and bad.) The way forward, according to Michaels, may be limitations on pollution that are set on a sector-by-sector approach instead of formulating an overall limit on pollution, officials could regulate based upon the needs of each industry.
Here's where the individual consumer comes in. Even though alternative energies, including solar and wind electricity, account for an increasing percentage of residential and commercial electricity supplies, oil and coal are still the big sources of the juice that is transmitted into your home. When burned in the plant, coal and oil (condensed sunshine) become different chemicals, many of which are considered detrimental to the environment. In a way, some pollution is just an unavoidable tradeoff in exchange for our modern lifestyles. The goal of cap and trade and other pollution control methods is to minimize damage to the environment while providing people with the energy they need.
That's why moderation is the key. Depending on the cap limit, the needs of the Earth can be balanced with those of a twenty-first century lifestyle. While that (or a future) bill is working its way through the legislative process, you can take advantage of programs offered by your utility provider who offers you the power to choose your services. For example, Dynowatt offers a green energy plan that allows you to receive electricity Texas that was generated by wind turbines.
Cap and trade will probably continue to be in the news for some time to come. Once this and other arrangements are refined, we can all enjoy our lifestyles while also enjoying the untainted beauty of the Great Outdoors.
by: Terry Mickelson
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