Brits share advice on greenhouse gas Parliament officials meet with Baldacci

AUGUSTA – A delegation from the British Parliament had some advice Tuesday for Maine lawmakers beginning to debate how to meet regional goals to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

Maine is among 10 states that have signed on to a multistate compact that aims to cap carbon dioxide emissions from power plants beginning in 2009 and then reduce those emissions by another 10 percent over the ensuing decade.

As Maine and other states prepare to implement the initiative, lawmakers are increasingly looking across the Atlantic for possible guidance.

On Tuesday, four members of Britain’s Parliament traveled to Augusta to share some of their country’s successes and stumbles with a European cap-and-trade system on greenhouse gas emissions. They met with Gov. John Baldacci and members of two legislative committees grappling with the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Their message? It’s possible to expand the economy while reducing emissions of the heat-trapping gases that contribute to climate change. But the discussion on how best to achieve those reductions, whether in Europe or New England, is ongoing.

“There is still a lot of debate going on,” said the Right Hon. Greg Knight, the delegation’s leader and chairman of the British House of Commons’ Procedure Committee. “But the debate is not about the direction. It’s about a means and how to get there.”

More than two dozen European countries participate in the EU’s two-year-old program to reduce greenhouse gases. Under a cap-and-trade program, participating countries set limits on greenhouse gases by allotting a certain number of emissions “allowances” or “credits” to each power plant based on past emission levels. Plants are then required to reduce those levels over time.

Power plants that are more efficient than required can either bank their excess allowances for future use or sell them to plants exceeding their limits. This market-based approach is regarded as more flexible than forced regulation because it offers companies a financial incentive to go beyond their emissions goals.

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI or “Reggie” for short, employs a similar approach to emissions controls.

The members of Parliament said their country has been aggressively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for more than a decade.

From 1990 to 1999, the United Kingdom cut emissions by nearly 14 percent while growing the national economy by 49 percent. Industries related to the environment now employ 400,000 Britons and generate $25 billion to the economy.

The delegation said such successes were only possible because the British people and politicians have embraced the issue.

“We have achieved a political consensus about the issue of climate change,” said the Hon. Greg Mulholland, who holds the title of junior international development spokesman for Parliament.

One issue that Maine lawmakers will debate in the coming weeks is whether to force power plants to buy all of their emissions credits upfront and, if so, how to use the money. Officials estimate that selling the credits could generate $30 million.

RGGI rules require states to auction off at least 25 percent of the credits, but many states have pledged to sell 100 percent. Baldacci officials have announced plans to sell off 100 percent.

That was one area where the members of Parliament said the Northeastern states could likely learn from European missteps. While the U.K. auctioned 7 percent of its credits, many nations sold less than 1 percent. Yet customers still ended up paying higher rates.

“I don’t think there is any magic formula,” said Lord Robin Corbett, a member of the House of Lords since 2001. “What you have to do is make sure it does serve the purpose of countering emissions and doesn’t set up a sort of money-making scheme” for credit traders.

The visiting lawmakers praised Maine for its leadership on climate issues, including becoming the first state to set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Members of the delegation and Baldacci said they also see areas of collaboration between Maine and Britain.

“I really think that together we are going to be able to do even more,” Baldacci said.