Carbon Permits Sold in U.S.

For the first time in the U.S., utilities have bid on permits for the right to emit carbon dioxide. The auction was held Monday by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a consortium of 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states which, in the absence of federal action, has taken the country’s first step toward regulating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the RGGI plan, all utilities must purchase carbon emission permits, and Monday morning 59 energy and environmental companies bought all 12.5 million permits that were up for sale, paying $3.07 per ton of carbon. Other auctions will be held later this fall before the 10 states begin regulating the emissions in January, with a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 10 percent over the next 10 years, followed by far steeper reductions in ensuing decades. Utilities that cut back on greenhouse gas emissions will be able to sell their permits on the open market.