Episode Information  Northeast Carbon Auction Kicks Off
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"It is akin to Ebay for CO2."   Episode Audio  3:44 minutes
(1.79 MB) Download this Episode  Bridgeport Harbor Generating
Station Bridgeport, Connecticut: Photo by Roger Smith, Courtesy
Clean Water ActionBridgeport Harbor Generating Station
Bridgeport, Connecticut: Photo by Roger Smith, Courtesy Clean
Water ActionToday, for the first time in the U.S., there will be
an auction for the right to release carbon dioxide. The Regional
Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI [Reggie], runs the auction.
Its goal: to cut the region's carbon pollution by 10 percent
over about a decade. The idea is to make electric power
companies buy permits to emit carbon dioxide, which causes
global warming. But even supporters of the plan say it's not
ambitious enough.  Today's RGGI auction isn't happening in a
room packed with people placing bids. In fact, there's no room
at all.  "It is akin to Ebay for CO2."  That'