UCS Success Stories
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative Goes Into Effect
Thanks in part to the thousands of UCS supporters who sent emails and made phone calls over the past four years, the nation's first cap-and-trade program, a market-based plan to reduce global emissions, went into effect in early 2009. Ten states in the Northeast now have a price and limit on global warming emissions from electric power plants. Your efforts helped ensure that a number of key provisions in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) set good precedents for federal policy, including auctioning most of the emissions permits and investing those funds in energy efficiency and clean energy.So far, the RGGI states have held three auctions to sell global warming emissions permits, raising a total of 262.3 million dollars. The states are now engaged in the process of allocating their funds to specific programs and projects that will increase energy efficiency and clean energy generation in their states. The participating states include Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. UCS is using the lessons learned from RGGI to help pass strong federal legislation to cap and reduce emissions across the country.
