States In Northeast Cap And Trade Program Reduce CO2 20% Faster And Grow GDP At Twice The Rate of Other States

Just in time for Earth Day, Think Progress posted an article on Friday that gives credence Cap and Trade. Not only does the capping of carbon emissions and trading the credits work to reduce carbon polution, it has created $1.6 billion in real economic value and has not driven up electrical rates paid by consumers here in the Northeast.
Cap and Trade has also stimulated the investments in efficiency and renewable energy, which has lead to $1.1 billion savings for ratepayers.

Northeastern states participating in America’s first carbon cap and trade program have outperformed the rest of the country in GDP growth and reduction in global warming pollution.

That’s according to a new report from Environment New Jersey, which examined emissions data and economic growth indicators from 2000 to 2009.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a nine-state cap-and-trade market designed to reduce emissions in the utility sector 10% by 2018. A recent independent analysis showed that the program has already created $1.6 billion in economic value and set the stage for $1.1 billion in ratepayer savings through investments in efficiency and renewable energy. 

This latest report shows that states under the RGGI program saw a 20% greater reduction in per-capita carbon emissions than non-RGGI states — all while growing per-capita GDP at double the rate of the rest of the country....

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