Full Title: Decarbonizing Colorado: Evaluating Cap and Trade Programs to Meet Colorado’s Emissions Targets
Author(s): Marc Hafstead
Publisher(s): Resources for the Future (RFF)
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
- Additional policies are required to achieve CO’s 2025 and 2030 targets, and an economy-wide cap-and-trade program is likely to cost significantly less than sector-specific strategies.
- Giving firms flexibility in determining when they reduce their emissions through a system of banking emission allowances will promote cost-effectiveness.
- Allowing the use of offsets can reduce the burden of achieving emissions on firms covered by the policy by allowing for emissions in uncovered sectors of the economy.
- Linking Colorado’s cap-and-trade program with the Western Climate Initiative would provide even greater program flexibility and significantly reduce the cost of meeting Colorado’s climate targets (though linking also reduces benefits from reductions in local air pollutants)