Dissent Magazine - Online Features - Improving the Climate for Climate Legislation -

In 1990, after nearly a decade of negotiating, the first Bush Administration amended the Clean Air Act to cap sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions to control acid rain and ozone pollution. Critically, the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments allocated or “gave away” the allowances permitted under the law. Sulfur dioxide emissions, for instance, had to be cut from 15 million to 10.8 million tons per year, but the 10.8 million–ton allowance was allocated to those that had to reduce emissions. While no one knows all the reasons for the ultimate decisions about the allocation of emission permits, managing the regional financial impact of the bill was part of the calculus. And the 1990 cap worked. When Obama came to office, his administration and its allies in Congress wanted to tackle climate change by putting a cap on CO2 emissions, but they wanted emitters to buy permits through an auction, putting a price on all energy used based on its carbon content. Everyone from Robert Reich to ardent environmentalists thought the auction was a wonderful innovation. See full Article.