Megan Morgan Beausang · Green & Cleantech Expert

On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, the historic American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). Should the Senate pass a bill and the President sign it into law, the resulting U.S. federal cap-and-trade market would create an estimated six billion CO2 emission allowances annually1. This will follow numerous CO2 emission cap-and-trade markets launched in the past six years including the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme in 2005, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in 2009 and the Chicago Climate Exchange® in 2003.

As the EU, the U.S…

As President Obama calls on Congress to pass a Cap and Trade bill that regulates greenhouse gas emissions, the US stands on the brink of launching the largest commodities market in history. The US emits roughly 7.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases every year and that number continues to grow. Investors are finding ways to play the ‘green movement,’ such as solar, wind and clean-coal technology. Beyond the renewable energy market, the voluntary carbon market presents a compelling investment opportunity. Here in the US, a private voluntary cap and trade market has existed in the US sin…