"Mass. to lower cap on emissions by power plants" by Beth Daley | Globe Staff, February 08, 2013
Massachusetts and eight other Northeast states are slashing by nearly half the amount of carbon dioxide power plants are allowed to emit — a dramatic reduction that is expected to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars to the state for energy efficiency programs while combating global warming.
Related:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/todayspaper/2013/02/08
Did you take a look outside or was your Globe covered with snow?
In announcing the decision Thursday, the states said consumers and businesses should, on balance, see a negligible impact on their electricity bills when the new limits go into effect next year. The biggest impact will be reductions in greenhouse gases — and residents will get financial help making their homes weathertight.
Meaning you will be PAYING MORE, poor taxpayer!
“It is . . . a strong statement that this region, which comprises nearly 20 percent of the national economy, is serious about being stewards of our environment and addressing climate change,” Governor Deval Patrick said.
The revisions to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative agreement come four years after the nine-state program initially placed a cap on emissions of the key gas responsible for trapping heat in the atmosphere....
In the new agreement, the states adopted the most aggressive emission limits they considered during their negotiations, a stance that gained support after Hurricane Sandy and the reelection of President Obama pushed climate change back onto the national political agenda....
And then it quickly moved off again for many reasons.
The program works like this: Power plants buy emission allowances from states for every ton of carbon dioxide they emit, with plants that emit larger amounts having to buy more allowances than cleaner ones. The number of available allowances is designed to decrease as the overall cap is lowered, raising their price, and ideally, encouraging plants to invest in clean technologies to avoid the higher cost of polluting.
But if emissions are significantly lower than the cap, there is less demand for allowances, driving down their price and giving power plants little financial incentive to invest in cleaner and more efficient technologies. That is exactly what happened....
State officials said the cost impact on consumers in Massachusetts would be negligible. Modeling done by the greenhouse gas program shows that the average Massachusetts residential customer’s monthly electricity bill of $72 will rise by 39 cents, and the average commercial monthly bill of $455 will rise by $3.89....
I know it doesn't look like much, but add it up over millions of people. As for the chump-change gouging, I'm tired of being bitten down to nothing being nickel-and-dimed by every damn institution in AmeriKa.
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Oh, right, did I mention this was all based on a lie?
Related: N.E. senators praise lowering of carbon emissions limits
