America’s First Cap-and-Trade Program

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a cooperative effort among 11 northeastern and mid-Atlantic states to cap and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power sector. In this episode, RGGI Vice Chair and Maryland Secretary of the Environment, Ben Grumbles, breaks down RGGI’s origins and what it takes for states to join the initiative, the auction process to allocate emissions allowances, and the development of a robust secondary market where allowances are continuously traded

To learn more about RGGI and other carbon markets in the U.S. and Europe, check out a recording of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s June 3rd meeting of the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee here.