[enviro-vlc] New Pew Center Report: EU ETS in Perspective

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: New Pew Center Report: EU ETS in Perspective
Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 15:45:31 -0500
From: Pew Center on Global Climate Change <pewcenter at pewclimate.org>
Reply-To: Pew Center on Global Climate Change <pewcenter at pewclimate.org>
To: Climate Change Info Mailing List <climate-l at lists.iisd.ca>

NEW PEW CENTER REPORT OFFERS INSIGHTS TO POLICY-MAKERS ON CAP AND TRADE

The Pew Center on Global Climate Change has released a new report examining the 
European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) that offers a realistic 
assessment of the system’s initial objectives and outcomes. The report, “The 
European Union’s Emissions Trading System in Perspective,” by A. Denny Ellerman 
and Paul L. Joskow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, examines the 
development, structure, and performance of the system to date.

As the U.S. Congress moves closer to developing a national climate change 
policy, this report delivers key insights into the world’s first carbon dioxide 
cap-and-trade program. Through analysis of the controversies and lessons learned 
from the program’s initial three-year trial phase, the authors provide important 
information for U.S. policy-makers and other countries.

The report helps address key cap-and-trade concerns in the U.S. and 
internationally, including over-allocation, price volatility, and excessive 
“windfall” profits. While it remains a work in progress, the EU ETS affords many 
important lessons for policy-makers and major stakeholders to consider when 
developing appropriate short- and long-term measures to limit greenhouse gas 
emissions.

The report can be directly linked to at www.pewclimate.org/eu-ets.

For more information about global climate change and the activities of the Pew 
Center, visit www.pewclimate.org.