US: April 21, 2008
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A coalition of western US states and Canadian provinces
eyeing a regional carbon credit trading market picked up an eastern member
on Friday when Quebec said it would join.
Premier Jean Charest said Quebec had joined the Western Climate Initiative
while he was meeting at Yale University with US governors who have bypassed
the Bush administration to set tough emissions limits on greenhouse gases.
Early last year, the WCI set a group-wide greenhouse gas emissions target of
15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.
Quebec had been an observer of both the WCI and of the Regional Greenhouse
Gas Initiative, a group of 10 states in the US Northeast that agreed to cut
carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel power plants.
"We're all hydro power, not thermal power," Charest said, regarding why it
chose to join the WCI and not RGGI. Quebec derives much of its power from
low-carbon hydroelectric sources, so the province joined the WCI, which
seeks to cut emissions from economy-wide sources including transportation.
The WCI, spearheaded by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is expected
to announce details in August for a regional "cap and trade" market for
emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Such markets allow major polluters to comply with caps on their emissions by
purchasing offsetting credits from sellers who have not used their total
emission allowance.
Quebec's Montreal Exchange wants to host the carbon trading market, and the
bourse plans to launch a futures market for Canadian carbon dioxide
emissions on May 30, subject to regulatory approval. Charest said joining
the WCI would boost trade on that market.
In addition to California, the WCI's members include the US states of
Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Washington, and the Canadian
provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba.
Ontario, Canada's most populous province, and Saskatchewan also have
observer status in the WCI, as do Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada
and Wyoming, and several Mexican states.
Canada's federal government has said it supports the idea of carbon trading
but opposes mandatory caps on emissions. Supporters of carbon trading say
the caps are needed for the market to establish proper pricing.
Quebec has said it wants to cut its greenhouse gas emissions between 1.5
percent and 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012 but has not legislated
absolute targets. The province also has a carbon tax on gasoline.
Additional reporting by Allan Dowd in Vancouver, editing by Rob Wilson and
Matthew Lewis
Story by Timothy Gardner
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
