United States Federal Register of Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Necessity

Necessity

Even though the United States has not adopted the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol, it has still made significant progress in establishing the ground work to one day having a viable working model that will meet the needs of a market driven cap and trade system for the accounting and valuation of carbon credits. The key to such a system is a transparent and easy to understand protocol that includes establishing common standardized accounting practices that can be consistently applied in a verifiable manner. These best practices must be open and easy to apply in a cost effective manner in order to become accepted. These protocols will need to include not only accounting and reporting requirements, but also quantification standards and verification procedures. Right now the leaders in the establishing of these protocols are a varied and diverse group of organizations. We have attempted to review the compliance procedures of these various groups. As The United States moves forward with its own plan for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, it may move from the current voluntary reporting model to regulatory limits and a market mechanism to promote reductions. In the meantime numerous states have started the process of setting their own emission goals, many of which include specific regulatory requirements.