Terminating Links between Emission Trading Programs
Resources for the Future Discussion Paper 14-28
43 Pages Posted: 14 Dec 2014
There are 2 versions of this paper
Terminating Links between Emission Trading Programs
Terminating Links between Emission Trading Programs
Date Written: August 25, 2014
Abstract
Links between emission trading programs are not immutable, as highlighted by New Jersey's exit from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. This raises the question of what to do with existing permits that are banked for future use -- choices that have consequences for market behavior in advance of, or upon speculation about, delinking. We consider two delinking policies. One differentiates banked permits by origin, the other treats banked permits the same. We describe the price behavior and relative cost-effectiveness of each policy. Treating permit differently generally leads to higher costs, and may lead to price divergence, even with only speculation about delinking.
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