Managing Terrestrial Carbon in the Northeastern U.s.: Early Experiences with Rggi

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a multi-state plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric power plants in a 10 state region in the northeastern US that extends from Maine to Maryland. The compliance period for the Initiative started January 1, 2009 and was preceded by two auctions of CO2 emission allowances. RGGI is the first mandatory market based program in the US to reduce CO2 emissions. It includes the first carbon (C) auctions in the USA. The RGGI program began out of frustrations over lack of a national GHG reduction program during the previous federal administration and because of concerns about rising levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The goals of the RGGI program are to reduce GHG emissions by 10% by 2019 below the 2002-2004 average, set an emissions cap of 188 millions tons of CO2, establish a price for C, encourage innovation and efficiency, provide regulatory certainty for electricity generators, and establish a model for a national US program. The 10 state RGGI region covers 330,000 km (130,000 mi), is 60% forested, and has a population of about 50 million. The region emits about 10% of all US GHGs and has a $2.4 trillion economy comprising about 19% of the US economy.